The particle believed to have travelled to Earth from beyond the Milky Way galaxy.
Scientists have detected an extremely powerful particle with ultra-high energy that they believe to have travelled to Earth from beyond the Milky Way galaxy. According to a report from space.com, it has been named the "sun goddess" (Amaterasu in Japanese) particle and is extraordinary. The outlet said that the particle has an energy level one million times greater than what can be generated in most powerful particle accelerators. It rivals the single most energetic cosmic ray ever observed, the "Oh-My-God" particle that was detected in 1991, according to a study published in journal Science.
The discovery was made when scientists were looking to understand the origins of powerful cosmic rays. They comprise of charged particles that travel through space and fall on Earth constantly.
It is common for Earth to receive low-energy cosmic ray, but those with extremely high energy come rarely. They are thought to travel to Earth from other galaxies and sources beyond our Milky Way.
"If you hold out your hand, one (cosmic ray) goes through the palm of your hand every second, but those are really low-energy things," study co-author John Matthews, a research professor at the University of Utah, told CNN about the discovery.
"When you get out to these really high-energy (cosmic rays), it's more like one per square kilometre per century. It's never going through your hand," he added.
The current particle appears to have originated from a dark region of our galaxy. And the researchers are not clear about the direction from which it arrived.
"The mystery suggests possibilities of unknown astronomical phenomena and novel physical origins beyond the Standard Model", Toshihiro Fujii, from Osaka Metropolitan University, who led the work, told The Independent.
He added that such an energy level has not been seen in 30 years.
The recently-discovered particle was spotted by a cosmic ray observatory in Utah's west desert.
Scientists are hoping that just like Amaterasu Omikami, the sun goddess after which the particle has been named, it can help create an entirely new branch of high-energy astrophysics.