Dr. Nisa, a distinguished researcher, has recently published a groundbreaking paper in the Physical Review Letters journal. The paper elaborates on the fresh discovery of the most potent light ever witnessed emanating from the Sun.
What's the latest discovery about Sunlight?
Dr. Nisa and her team, using the High Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) Observatory, have detected signatures of high-energy light that do not reach the Earth's surface. The HAWC, unlike its counterparts, functions round the clock, enabling the researchers to leverage observation techniques that were inconceivable only a few years ago. Dr. Nisa, who is associated with the Department of Physics and Astronomy in the College of Natural Science, is instrumental in this undertaking.
"Previously, terrestrial telescopes couldn't observe the Sun in this energy band as they only functioned at night. Our observatory operates continually," she explains. HAWC differs from traditional telescopes, both in operation and appearance. Instead of the conventional tube mounted with glass lenses, HAWC utilizes a grid of 300 large water tanks, each containing approximately 200 tons of water. This mesh is situated between two dormant volcanic peaks in Mexico, over 13,000 feet above sea level.
From this unique observation point, HAWC can monitor the aftermath of gamma rays colliding with the atmosphere's air. Such impacts generate what is termed 'air showers,' akin to invisible particle explosions.
The Role of HAWC.
The initial gamma ray's energy is released and dispersed among new fragments composed of lower-energy particles and light. It is these particles and their subsequent generations that HAWC can detect.
When these shower particles interact with HAWC's water, they produce Cherenkov radiation, detectable by the observatory's instruments. Data collection began in 2015, and by 2021, the team had amassed enough information to commence a detailed study of the Sun's gamma rays.
"After analyzing six years of data, this surplus of gamma rays surfaced," Dr. Nisa states. "Our initial reaction was disbelief. We were convinced we had erred. The Sun couldn't possibly emit such high-energy light."
How much energy does the Sun emit?
The Sun radiates a vast spectrum of light, with some energy levels being more prevalent than others. It chiefly emits visible light through nuclear reactions, which is the light we perceive. This light carries approximately 1 electronvolt energy, a convenient unit of measurement in physics.
The gamma rays detected by Dr. Nisa and her team carried about 1 trillion electron volts or 1 teraelectronvolt (1 TeV). The energy level was not only astounding but also the sheer volume of it.
In the 1990s, scientists theorized that the Sun might generate gamma rays when high-energy cosmic rays (particles accelerated by cosmic phenomena like black holes or supernovae) collide with the Sun's protons. However, based on the understanding of cosmic rays and the Sun, it was postulated that the occurrence of these gamma rays reaching Earth would be fairly rare.
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