Astronomy   View all facts   Glossary   Help

physical object > natural object > particle > charged particle > cosmic rays

cosmic rays (corpuscular radiation)
subject			fact

cosmic rays	has energy 2 GeV (average)
	has composition 85% protons, 14% alpha-particles, 1% electrons, << 1% heavy nuclei
	has synonym corpuscular radiation
	has definition High-energy charged particles which stream at relativistic velocities down to Earth from space. The Sun ejects low-energy (107 - 1010 eV) cosmic rays during solar flares (those of lower energy than this are unobservable from Earth because of solar system magnetic fields). Those of intermediate energy (1010 - 1016 eV) have an isotropic distribution, and are apparently produced in the Galaxy. Possible sources of acceleration are shock waves accompanying supernovae (although cosmic rays have a higher hydrogen content than would be expected from a star that has processed material to iron), and the rotating magnetic fields of pulsars. The light elements Li, Be, and B have a higher abundance ratio in cosmic rays than in the solar system.
	is a kind of radioactive particle
	is a kind of charged particle
radioactive particle	has desintegration energy the total energy produced when the particle decays
	has decay products the products produced immediately after decay
	has lifetime The average time in which a particle decays
charged particle	is accelerated by electric or magnetic fields
	has charge non-zero
particle	obeys uncertainty principle
	has frequency inversely proportional to the wavelength
	has wavelength inversely proportional to its momentum
	has mass
physical object	has location or center of gravity
	has angular momentum
	has velocity
	has momentum
	has temperature
	has volume
	has extent
	has material

Next charged particle: deuteron    Up: charged particle, radioactive particle    Previous charged particle: antiquark