Posted on by Mark Thompson

Another Clue About the Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Rays: Magnetic Turbulence

Artist's illustration of ultra-high energy cosmic rays

Space largely seems quite empty! Yet even in the dark voids of the cosmos, ultra-high-energy cosmic rays are streaming through space. The rays contain 10 million times as much energy as the Large Hadron Collider can produce! The origin of the rays though is still the source of many a scientific debate but they are thought to be coming from some of the most energetic events in the universe. A new paper suggests the rays may be linked to magnetic turbulence, coming from regions where magnetic fields get tangled and twisted up. 

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Posted on by Brian Koberlein

How Close is Too Close to a Kilonova?

Artist’s impression of merging neutron stars creating a kilonova. Credit: NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/J. da Silva/Spaceengine

Cataclysmic events happen in the Universe all the time. Black hole mergers, supernovae, gamma-ray bursts, and a whole host of others. Most of them happen in distant galaxies, so they pose no threat to us. But there are a few that could affect life on Earth, and a couple could even pose an existential threat. One of these threats is known as a kilonova.

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