Earth’s Most Dangerous Radiation Source May Be a Star That Already Exploded

Earth’s Most Dangerous Radiation Source May Be a Star That Already Exploded

Supernova remnants could briefly become the most extreme particle accelerators in the cosmos, surpassing even the Large Hadron Collider, according to a new study. Recently accepted for publication Astronomy & Astrophysics and available on arXiv, the research outlines a mechanism that may turn ordinary stellar explosions into PeVatrons—sources of cosmic rays with energies reaching one peta-electronvolt (PeV). These explosions may only function as…