“A new study has just discovered the most intense ray of light from the Sun recorded to date. Among the many different types of radiation emitted by the Sun are gamma rays, which pose more questions than answers to scientists.
The researchers involved in the study, published in the scientific journal Physical Review Letters, used the High-Altitude Water Cherenkov Observatory (HAWC) to identify the traces left by these gamma rays. The HAWC, unlike other observatories, operates 24 hours a day and is an essential part of scientific history.”
“We now have observation techniques that were not possible a few years ago,” said Mehr Un Nisa, a postdoctoral researcher associated with Michigan State University. “In this specific energy regime, other ground-based telescopes couldn’t observe the Sun because they only operate at night. Ours operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.”
In 2015, scientists began collecting data on the radiation emitted by the Sun. By 2021, the team had gathered enough information to thoroughly analyze the gamma radiation from our star. “After analyzing six years of data, this excess of gamma rays appeared,” explains Nisa.
The observed gamma rays had around 1 trillion electronvolts, which is equivalent to 1 teraelectronvolt (1 TeV). The level of energy observed exceeded all expectations, as did the fact that so many rays were observed.
Based on what is known about cosmic rays and the Sun, scientists also hypothesized that it would be unlikely for these gamma rays to reach Earth.
Over the following years, the Fermi mission demonstrated that these rays could be up to seven times more intense than scientists had predicted, suggesting the existence of even more powerful rays.
When a telescope is launched into space, there is a limit to the size and power of its detectors. The gamma ray measurements of the Sun made by the Fermi telescope reached a maximum of 200 billion electronvolts.
“Now, for the first time, the team has shown that solar ray energies extend into the TeV range, reaching almost 10 TeV, which does appear to be the maximum,” Nisa stated.
The current discovery raises more questions than answers. Solar scientists will now scratch their heads, wondering how these gamma rays reach such high energies and what role the Sun’s magnetic fields play in this phenomenon,” she added.
Furthermore, Nisa explained the significant implication of this recent discovery: “This demonstrates that HAWC is expanding our knowledge about our galaxy at higher energies and is raising questions about our own sun. It’s making us see things in a different light. Literally.”
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