![]() ![]() Please visit the COBE home page for more on the cosmic background. The only thing they have in common is the word "cosmic". The cosmic background radiation is the thermal radiation left over from the Big Bang - it consists of photons only - not particles. They have nothing to do with the cosmic microwave background. Cosmic Background Radiation Is there a difference between cosmic rays and cosmic background radiation?Ĭosmic rays are particles - the nuclei of elements in the periodic table. I personally would leave it out, since I don't think it's a correct usage of "cosmic rays" (but I don't make the rules). If you were to plot "cosmic rays" on an electromagnetic spectrum, it would basically encompass x-rays and everything higher in energy (higher in frequency or shorter in wavelength). I usually think of cosmic rays (which is my field of astrophysics) as only being the particles (pieces of atoms) which are moving at near the speed of light. Some people use "cosmic rays" to include high energy photons (light), and they basically mean x-rays and gamma-rays (light that is high enough energy that you measure individual photons, rather than taking pictures the way you do with visible, ultraviolet, microwave, etc.). Where Are Cosmic Rays in the Energy Spectrum? Where do cosmic rays rays fall in the electromagnetic spectrum amidst the x-rays and microwaves?.You can certainly find out much more about cosmic rays (and references therein) at our website. ![]() If you can get access to your local library you may be able to find a useful book on cosmic rays called "Cosmic Rays" by M. Just think, the iron in your blood came from a supernova billions of years ago in our solar neighborhood! By identifying the various nuclei that are dispersed throughout our Galaxy, scientists hope to unravel the mechanisms that actually produce these nuclei - from stellar nucleosynthesis to nucleosynthesis within supernovae to nuclear fragmentation. In fact, cosmic rays offer one of the few ways in which scientists can actually sample real matter (from protons up through the heaviest elements - the actinides) outside of our solar system. By looking at different properties of cosmic rays, scientists learn different things about our Galaxy, much like astronomers use light in different wavelengths to learn about different aspects of the Galaxy. Just as astronomers use light (or photons) to view our Galaxy and beyond, scientists use cosmic rays to infer useful properties about our Galaxy, such as its composition, its basic structure (is the Galaxy homogeneous? is there an extended halo surrounding our Galaxy?), and what common physical processes occur within the Galaxy (how nuclei accelerate to nearly the speed of light, what kinds of nuclear collisions take place within the interstellar medium, etc). Cosmic rays are to scientists much like photons are to astronomers. These are excellent questions and all interrelated. Why Do We Study Cosmic Rays? Why is the study of cosmic rays important? What do scientists hope to achieve by studying cosmic rays? Why should the average person be interested in the study of cosmic rays?.If you've got a more specific question, feel free to send more email. I think that the description given on our cosmic ray page and the pages linked from it are what you want. What Are Cosmic Rays? Can you give me a good explanation of what a cosmic ray is?.High-Energy Protons and the Cosmic Microwave Background How Do You Detect Only Certain Cosmic Rays?Įnergy Loss of Particles in Different MediaĪre Cosmic Rays Electromagnetic Radiation? Where Are Cosmic Rays in the Energy Spectrum?Ĭosmic Rays vs. Ask Us Cosmic Rays, Energetic Particles, and Plasma To learn a lot more about cosmic rays, check out Cosmicopia's page on cosmic rays. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |