Ever since the 1930s, scientists have known that accelerating subatomic particles and smashing them was a pretty good way to study the underlying makeup of the universe. But it turns out the universe does this just for fun.
Researches using the European Space Agency's Integral gamma ray observatory have found signs that a distant cluster of galaxies called Ophiuchus is accelerating electrons to extraordinarily high level of energy. These particles are in turn producing high-energy X-rays, which we can see here on Earth.
There are several theories as to how this – the first time the phenomenon has been unambiguously observed – is happening. But what seems to be certain is that Ophiuchus is acting as a particle accelerator perhaps 20 times more powerful than the Large Hadron Collider slated to open later this year in Switzerland.
Of course, that's natural, researchers say:
The electrons are likely to have been accelerated by massive shock waves rippling through gas heated to about 100 million degrees Kelvin
(about 180 million degrees Fahrenheit), as Ophiuchus collided with another galaxy cluster, researchers say.
If this happened relatively recently, the high-energy electrons may be spiraling around the cluster's magnetic field lines, emitting synchrontron radiation (various kinds of radiation produced by the motion of charged particles through magnetic fields) in the form of
X-rays.
Alternatively, the electrons may be colliding with microwaves left over from the Big Bang, and losing energy in the form of the X-rays seen here.
More work is needed to determine exactly how this observation is happening. But scientists know one thing: Give the universe enough space, and it'll make our little earthbound experiments look pretty small.
X-rays betray giant particle accelerator in the sky [ESA]
(Image: Artist's visualization of the Integral satellite. Credit: ESA)
