Live: Cosmic Rays from Minnesota
Explanation:
Cosmic rays from outer space go through your body every second.
Typically, they do you no harm.
The
featured image shows some of these fast moving particles as streaks going through
Fermilab's
NOvA Far Detector located in Ash River,
Minnesota,
USA.
Although the image updates every 15 seconds, it only shows
cosmic rays that occurred over a (changing) small fraction of that time, and
mostly shows only one type of particle:
muons.
The
NOvA
Far Detector's main purpose is not to detect cosmic rays, though, but rather
neutrinos from the
NuMI
beam shot through the Earth from
Fermilab near
Chicago,
Illinois, USA,
810 kilometers away.
Only a few
neutrino events are expected in NOvA per week, though.
The NuMI /
NOvA experiment is allowing humanity
to better explore the
nature of neutrinos,
for example how frequently they change type during their trip.
Cosmic
rays themselves were
discovered
only about 100 years ago and can not only
alter
computer memory,
but may have helped to create
DNA
mutations that resulted in, eventually,
humans.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
