For the past few weeks, astronomers around the world have been abuzz discussing a surprise observation made in the night sky over Utah on June 22nd. A mysterious cosmic ray—the highest-energy particle ever detected on Earth to date—was seen in the direction of the constellation Cygnus.
Using data from the Pierre Auger Observatory in western Argentina, scientists from around the world were able to confirm the origin of the ray: the ray was indeed from outside our galaxy, emanating from as far as the distant depths of the universe itself.
In a study published on July 9th in the Astrophysical Journal Letters, the team of scientists concluded that the ray must have traveled somewhere between 3 million to 6._ million light-years to reach our world. This distant origin changes the game for scientists, leading them to speculate on its source. While no one can be sure as of yet, there are a few possible explanations for the sudden surge of ultra-high-energy cosmic rays.
One of them could be the remnants of a supermassive blackhole, the giant black holes that rest at the center of galaxies. When these supermassive blackholes interact with each other, a cascade of energy is released, making the cosmic rays only a small fraction of the puzzle.
Alternatively, the cosmic rays could have been sent from far away star remnants, such as stellar-mass blackholes. It’s possible that another star exploded or collapsed into a black hole and sent out a wave of cosmic rays in the process.
The mysterious cosmic ray may also have originated from galaxies located on the other side of the universe. It’s possible the ray was the result of particles emitted during collisions between galaxies, a phenomenon known as “cosmic ray jets”.
Essentially, scientists are not ruling out any possibilities at this time, and there is much more to be unearthed about the mysterious cosmic ray. With each new observation, we are able to piece together an ever-expanding image of our universe and the phenomena that exist within it. Hopefully, more research will be conducted on this fascinating phenomenon in the future to unravel its secrets.