Sun Emits Highest-Energy Radiation Ever Recorded

Published by Jean Jarvaise

August 7, 2023 10:58 pm

In a record-breaking discovery, scientists have detected the sun emitting an extraordinary amount of gamma rays — light wavelengths known to carry the most energy of any other wavelength in the electromagnetic spectrum.

The findings, published in the journal Nature, were made by an international team of researchers using the High Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) Observatory in Mexico. HAWC is a ground-based gamma-ray observatory that is sensitive to high-energy gamma rays from a variety of sources, including the sun.

The researchers analyzed six years of data from HAWC and found a significant excess of gamma rays coming from the sun. The gamma rays had energies ranging from 0.5 to 2.6 teraelectronvolts (TeV), which is about 1 trillion times more energetic than visible light.

This is the first time that gamma rays with such high energies have been detected from the sun. The previous record was set in 2011 by NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, which detected gamma rays with energies up to 200 billion electron volts.

The researchers are not sure what is causing the sun to emit such high-energy gamma rays. One possibility is that they are being produced by solar flares, which are sudden eruptions of energy from the sun's surface. Solar flares can produce a variety of high-energy particles, including gamma rays.

Another possibility is that the gamma rays are being produced by a new type of solar phenomenon that has not yet been observed. The researchers are continuing to study the data from HAWC in an effort to understand the source of the gamma rays.

The discovery of the sun emitting the highest-energy radiation ever recorded is a significant finding that has the potential to advance our understanding of solar physics. It is also a reminder that the sun is a powerful source of radiation that can pose a threat to life on Earth.

The researchers are monitoring the sun for further outbursts of high-energy gamma rays. They are also working to develop new models of solar flares that can explain the production of these high-energy particles.