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    Where did cosmic rays come from? Astrophysicists are closer to finding out

    June 10, 2025, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    Where did cosmic rays come from? MSU astrophysicists are closer to finding out
    X-ray image of the newly discovered pulsar wind nebular associated with an extreme Galactic cosmic ray source 1LHAASO J0343+5254u, obtained by the XMM-Newton space telescope (DiKerby, Zhang, et al., ApJ, 983, 21). Credit: XMM-Newton space telescope

    New research published by Michigan State University astrophysicists could help scientists answer a century-old question: Where did galactic cosmic rays come from?

    Cosmic rays—high-energy particles moving close to the speed of light—originated from somewhere in the Milky Way galaxy and beyond, but exactly where has been a mystery since they were discovered in 1912. Shuo Zhang, MSU assistant professor of physics and astronomy, and her group led two studies that shed new light on where cosmic rays might have come from...

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