A single atomic nucleus hit Utah with the force of a pitched baseball

In 1991, a single subatomic particle struck Earth carrying the kinetic energy of a fast-bowled cricket ball — tens of millions of times more than any human accelerator can give one proton — and physicists still cannot explain what launched it

Fifty joules does not sound like an astronomical amount of energy. It is roughly the kinetic energy of a one-kilogram object moving at ten metres per second. Put that energy into one subatomic particle, however, and the comparison changes completely. On 15 October 1991, the Fly’s Eye cosmic-ray detector in Utah recorded an atmospheric shower produced by a particle whose energy was later estimated at 51 joules. In particle-physics units, that was…

A single atomic nucleus hit Utah with the force of a pitched baseball

On the evening of October 15, 1991, the University of Utah's Fly's Eye detector at Dugway Proving Ground recorded a single subatomic particle arriving from space with an energy of about 3.2×10²⁰ electronvolts — an atomic nucleus carrying the kinetic energy of a baseball traveling 100 kilometers per hour. — Read the rest The post A single atomic nucleus hit Utah with the force of a pitched baseball appeared first on Boing Boing.