In a groundbreaking discovery, scientists have detected an incredibly rare ultra-high-energy particle that they believe came from outside our Milky Way galaxy. This subatomic particle, although invisible to the naked eye, possesses energy akin to dropping a brick on your toe from waist height.

This newly found particle rivals the most energetic cosmic ray ever observed, known as the “Oh-My-God” particle, which was identified in 1991.

Cosmic rays, which consist of charged particles, constantly shower our planet. While lower-energy cosmic rays originate from the sun, the exceedingly high-energy ones are a true rarity, believed to journey to Earth from galaxies far beyond our own.

John Matthews, a research professor at the University of Utah and coauthor of the study stated “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.”

“When you get out to these really high-energy (cosmic rays), it’s more like one per square kilometer per century. It’s never going through your hand,” he continued

Despite extensive research, the exact source of these high-energy particles remains a mystery. Scientists suspect a connection to the most powerful events in the universe, such as those involving black holes, gamma-ray bursts, and active galactic nuclei.

Surprisingly, many of these super-energetic rays appear to originate from cosmic voids, devoid of the violent celestial events traditionally associated with their creation.

The newfound particle, nicknamed the “Amaterasu particle” after the sun goddess in Japanese mythology, was detected by the Telescope Array, a cosmic ray observatory located in Utah’s West Desert.

This facility, which has been in operation since 2008, comprises 507 surface detectors, each roughly the size of a ping-pong table, covering an impressive 700 square kilometers (270 square miles) of terrain.

While the observatory has recorded over 30 ultra-high-energy cosmic rays, none matched the magnitude of the Amaterasu particle, which entered Earth’s atmosphere on May 27, 2021.

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Matthews explained that scientists can gauge the primary cosmic ray’s energy by counting how many particles hit each detector. The event triggered 23 of these surface detectors, estimating the particle’s energy at around 244 exa-electron volts, just below the “Oh-My-God” particle’s 320 exa-electron volts.

To put this into perspective, 1 exa-electron volt equals 1 billion gigaelectron-volts, and 1 gigaelectron volt is equivalent to 1 billion electron volts. This makes the Amaterasu particle an astonishing 244,000,000,000,000,000,000 electron volts, far exceeding the energy of an electron within Earth’s polar aurora, which measures a mere 40,000 electron volts.

These mind-boggling energy levels result from regions with exceptionally high magnetic fields, acting as natural particle accelerators. However, these conditions are incredibly rare, leading to equally scarce cosmic sources that disperse their particles into the vast universe. Consequently, the chances of such ultra-high-energy particles reaching Earth remain infinitesimal.

Although Earth’s atmosphere protects us from the harmful effects of cosmic rays, they can occasionally disrupt computer systems. Astronauts, on the other hand, face a more substantial risk, as cosmic rays and space radiation can damage DNA and disrupt cellular processes, according to NASA.

The enigmatic origins of these ultra-high-energy particles continue to baffle scientists. Matthews, a co-spokesman for the Telescope Array Collaboration, pointed out that the two highest-energy cosmic rays, including the Amaterasu particle, appear to come from seemingly empty regions of space. The question remains: “It comes from a region that looks like a local empty space. It’s a void. So what the heck’s going on?”

The expansion of the Telescope Array holds promise in providing answers. Once completed, this expansion will incorporate 500 new detectors, enabling the observatory to capture cosmic ray-induced particle showers across an expansive 2,900 square kilometers, nearly the size of Rhode Island.

These developments offer hope of unraveling the mystery of ultra-high-energy cosmic rays and shedding light on the origins of these awe-inspiring particles.

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