Astrophysics (Index)About

Oh-My-God Particle

(extremely energetic particle from space detected in 1991)

The Oh-My-God Particle was an energetic cosmic-ray particle detect in 1991, with an energy of 3.2×1020eV, more than a million times more energetic than any other particle detected at the time or any particle produced before or since by an Earth accelerator. It has been an instigator of theories of its origin and efforts to detect more. As it was above the GZK limit, that appears to suggest some limit on the distance to its source. As published 5/2023, the 1991 detection still holds the record, but additional particles with energy within an order-of-magnitude have since been detected, helping confirm the 1991 detection. The Pierre Auger Observatory and the Telescope Array Project are efforts to detect more.


(cosmic rays,event,transient)
Further reading:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oh-My-God_particle
https://www.fourmilab.ch/documents/OhMyGodParticle/
http://www.cosmic-ray.org/reading/flyseye.html#SEC10
https://phys.org/news/2011-06-oh-my-god-particles.html
https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1995ApJ...441..144B
https://timeline.web.cern.ch/flys-eye-detects-record-breaking-cosmic-ray
http://www.telescopearray.org/index.php/history/the-fly-s-eye-1981-1993?start=8
Coordinates:Oh-My-God Particle
J054048+480000

Referenced by pages:
cosmic rays (CR)
Fly's Eye

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