Astronomy Picture of the Day

   [1]Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                               2023 December 5
    [2]An illustrations depicts a high energy cosmic ray starting an air
      shower in the Earth's atmosphere. Below is an array of air shower
    detectors. Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

                    Energetic Particle Strikes the Earth
    Illustration Credit: [3]Osaka Metropolitan U./[4]L-INSIGHT, [5]Kyoto
                         U./[6]Ryuunosuke Takeshige

   Explanation: It was one of the most energetic particles ever known to
   strike the Earth -- but where did it come from? Dubbed [7]Amaterasu
   after the [8]Shinto [9]sun goddess, this particle, as do all [10]cosmic
   rays that strike the [11]Earth's atmosphere, caused an [12]air shower
   of electrons, protons, and other [13]elementary particles to spray down
   onto the Earth below. In the [14]featured illustration, a cosmic ray
   [15]air shower is pictured striking the [16]Telescope Array in
   [17]Utah, [18]USA, which recorded the [19]Amaterasu event in 2021 May.
   Cosmic ray air showers are common enough that you likely have been in a
   [20]particle spray yourself, although you likely wouldn't have noticed.
   The origin of this energetic particle, likely the [21]nucleus of an
   atom, remains a [22]mystery in two ways. First, it is [23]not known how
   any single particle or atomic nucleus can practically acquire [24]so
   much energy, and second, attempts to trace the particle back to where
   it originated did not indicate any likely potential source.

    Open Science: [25]Browse 3,200+ codes in the Astrophysics Source Code
                                   Library
                    Tomorrow's picture: torched by stars
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    Authors & editors: [37]Robert Nemiroff ([38]MTU) & [39]Jerry Bonnell
                                 ([40]UMCP)
          NASA Official: Phillip Newman [41]Specific rights apply.
              [42]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
                A service of: [43]ASD at [44]NASA / [45]GSFC,
                         [46]NASA Science Activation
                           & [47]Michigan Tech. U.

References

   1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
   2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2312/Exaray_OsakaU_1500.jpg
   3. https://www.omu.ac.jp/
   4. https://www.l-insight.kyoto-u.ac.jp/en/
   5. https://www.kyoto-u.ac.jp/
   6. https://www.artstation.com/a4sizecg
   7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amaterasu_particle
   8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shinto
   9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amaterasu
  10. https://www.auger.org/outreach/cosmic-rays/cosmic-ray-mystery
  11. https://www.nasa.gov/image-article/earths-atmospheric-layers-3/
  12. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_shower_(physics)
  13. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elementary_particle
  14. https://www.omu.ac.jp/en/info/research-news/entry-39535.html
  15. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap060814.html
  16. http://www.telescopearray.org/index.php/about/telescope-array
  17. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utah
  18. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States
  19. https://attheu.utah.edu/facultystaff/cosmic-ray-2023/
  20. https://youtu.be/j-BBzWlOai0
  21. https://www.energy.gov/science/doe-explainsnuclei
  22. https://www.intermountainpet.com/hubfs/Blog_Images/Dogs-tilting-their-heads.jpg
  23. https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abo5095
  24. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oh-My-God_particle
  25. https://ascl.net/code/all
  26. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap231204.html
  27. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
  28. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html
  29. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html
  30. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  31. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html
  32. https://apod.com/feed.rss
  33. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html
  34. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html
  35. https://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=231205
  36. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap231206.html
  37. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  38. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  39. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html
  40. http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  41. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  42. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html
  43. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  44. https://www.nasa.gov/
  45. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  46. https://science.nasa.gov/learners
  47. http://www.mtu.edu/