The Amaterasu Particle: A Cosmic Bullet That Defies Explanation

An artist's impression of Amaterasu, the second most powerful cosmic ray ever recorded. Osaka Metropolitan University/L-INSIGHT, Kyoto University/Ryuunosuke Takeshige

Recently, Earth was struck by an extraordinarily enigmatic cosmic ray that has intrigued scientists. The cosmic ray particle, known as the "Amaterasu Particle", is a single ultra-high-energy particle that produces millions of times more energy than we have ever built using any particle accelerator. For perspective, the LHC beams particles at energies of 13 TeV, while this cosmic ray has the outrageous energy of 240 exa-electronvolts (EeV) - which is 18 million times more energetic!

This engagement of the particle occurs through ground-based observatories when it produces a cascade of secondary particles in the Earth's atmosphere. Here is the astonishing part: it appears that the cosmic ray has an initial source that is within our Local Void. The Local Void is an empty space where there do not appear to be any energetic galaxies, black holes, or supernovae, or even gamma-ray burst catalogs for over billions of light-years! To our understanding, it looks like the particle is coming from "nothing".

This produces a fascination from scientist to determine if there is possible unknown or novel forces in the Universe, or a new physics phenomenon altogether? The Amaterasu Particle alone may be a beyond description, effecting our understanding of the Universe and possibly at the very least hinting toward our modern mysteries, including dark matter and quantum gravity!

References :

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/11/231123164708.htm

https://phys.org/news/2023-11-telescope-array-second-highest-energy-cosmic-ray.html

https://arstechnica.com/science/2023/11/meet-amaterasu-astronomers-detect-highest-energy-cosmic-ray-since-1991/