American Scientists Discover Second Powerful Cosmic Ray of Unknown Nature That Should Not Exist

Scientists from the Telescope Array project have discovered the second most powerful cosmic ray in history. They have documented a phenomenon that "should not exist in nature." This was reported by the press service of the University of Utah.

"In 1991, scientists at the University of Utah discovered the most energetic cosmic ray ever observed. Later, this cosmic ray, dubbed the 'Oh-My-God' particle, stunned astrophysicists. Nothing in our galaxy had the power to produce it; the particle had more energy than is theoretically possible for cosmic rays coming from other galaxies to reach Earth. Simply put, the particle should not have existed," said John Matthews, a representative of the Telescope Array.

It is noted that since then, telescopes have observed more than 30 extremely high-energy cosmic rays, though none have approached the energy level of the Oh-My-God particle. Moreover, nothing has yet explained their origin or how they can travel to Earth.

On May 27, 2021, the Telescope Array, during its scientific experiment, identified the second most powerful extreme energy cosmic ray. Its direction appears to come from an empty region bordering the Milky Way galaxy. In their observation, published on November 23, 2023, in the journal Science, scientists describe the extremely high-energy cosmic ray, concluding that such rare phenomena may be related to the physics of particles unknown to science. The publication from the University of Utah emphasizes that such a particle cannot exist in nature.