Small student satellite solves big 6-decade old space mystery

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Reddit
  • Flipboard
  • Email
  • WhatsApp
Small student satellite solves big 6-decade old space mystery
Small student satellite solves big 6-decade old space mystery

New York : A shoebox-sized student satellite has solved 60-year-old Van Allen's Earth radiation belt mystery by finding the source of some energetic and potentially damaging particles.

As per findings, the energetic electrons in Earth's inner radiation belt, also known as the Van Allen belts, are formed by cosmic rays born from explosions of supernovas. The energetic particles then form a chain within the belt due to magnetic field of the planet.

Professor Xinlin Li from University of Colorado at Boulder in the US and his team explained a process called ‘cosmic ray albedo neutron decay’ (CRAND), cosmic rays entering Earth’s atmosphere collide with neutral atoms, creating a ‘splash’ which produces charged particles, including electrons, that become trapped by Earth’s magnetic fields.

“We are reporting the first direct detection of these energetic electrons near the inner edge of Earth’s radiation belt,” said Li, lead author of the study. “We have finally solved a six-decade-long mystery,” Li added.

The findings from the study have been published in the journal Nature. Van Allen radiation belt had been a mystery for scientists ever since it was discovered in 1958 by American and Russian scientists.