MorningSong
22nd August 2013, 11:31
Searching for the "Super Wave"?
New Site to Observe Supernovas and Supermassive Black Holes
LOS ALAMOS, N.M., Aug. 21, 2013—The High-Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) Gamma Ray Observatory has begun formal operations at its site in Mexico. HAWC is designed to study the origin of very high-energy cosmic rays and observe the most energetic objects in the known universe...
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...it will detect many new sources of high-energy photons. Los Alamos also studies these high-energy phenomena through complex computer simulations to understand the physical mechanisms that accelerate particles to energies millions of times greater than man-made accelerators,” Dingus said.
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Gamma rays (electromagnetic radiation of very high frequency) and cosmic rays (subatomic particles of very high energy) are products of the most energetic and cataclysmic events in the known universe. These phenomena include the collisions of two neutron stars, the explosions of supernovae, binary systems of stars with stellar accretion, and active gal actic nuclei which host black holes millions of times more massive than the sun.
When high-energy cosmic rays and gamma rays reach the Earth, they interact with air molecules in the upper atmosphere. Gamma rays, for example, are converted into pairs of charged matter and anti-matter particles (mainly electrons and positrons). These particles rapidly interact with other air molecules, producing additional gamma rays of reduced energy, which then create further charged particle pairs. This chain reaction proceeds until a large cascade of particles and radiation reaches ground level, where it can be recorded in the HAWC detectors....
http://www.lanl.gov/newsroom/news-releases/2013/August/08.21-new-gamma-ray-observatory.php
New Site to Observe Supernovas and Supermassive Black Holes
LOS ALAMOS, N.M., Aug. 21, 2013—The High-Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) Gamma Ray Observatory has begun formal operations at its site in Mexico. HAWC is designed to study the origin of very high-energy cosmic rays and observe the most energetic objects in the known universe...
........
...it will detect many new sources of high-energy photons. Los Alamos also studies these high-energy phenomena through complex computer simulations to understand the physical mechanisms that accelerate particles to energies millions of times greater than man-made accelerators,” Dingus said.
...........
Gamma rays (electromagnetic radiation of very high frequency) and cosmic rays (subatomic particles of very high energy) are products of the most energetic and cataclysmic events in the known universe. These phenomena include the collisions of two neutron stars, the explosions of supernovae, binary systems of stars with stellar accretion, and active gal actic nuclei which host black holes millions of times more massive than the sun.
When high-energy cosmic rays and gamma rays reach the Earth, they interact with air molecules in the upper atmosphere. Gamma rays, for example, are converted into pairs of charged matter and anti-matter particles (mainly electrons and positrons). These particles rapidly interact with other air molecules, producing additional gamma rays of reduced energy, which then create further charged particle pairs. This chain reaction proceeds until a large cascade of particles and radiation reaches ground level, where it can be recorded in the HAWC detectors....
http://www.lanl.gov/newsroom/news-releases/2013/August/08.21-new-gamma-ray-observatory.php