Scientists from the Telescope Array collaboration report that a “divine” particle has been recorded flying to us from space. Since the particle comes from a void (an empty region of the universe), its source may be physics unknown to us, making the discovery incredibly valuable to scientists.

The recorded energy of the cosmic particle is 244 exaelectron volts (10¹⁸ electron volt). It has become one of the strongest accusations recorded by our science. The first such particle was detected in 1991 and had an energy of 320 exaelectron volts, hence the nickname “Oh My God.” Two more particles were recorded in 1993 and 2001, with energies of 213 and 280 exaelectron volts, respectively. The origin of all of them remains unclear.

The last particle was detected by the Telescope Array on the morning of May 27, 2021, and was later named after the Japanese sun goddess Amaterasu (the team also included a Japanese member). The TA telescope is a sensor array with edges spanning approximately 700 km in 1.2 km steps. It is believed that cosmic particles with maximum energy reach the Earth with a frequency of less than a hundred years per 1 km.². And the larger the sensor array, the higher the probability of detecting such a particle.

The Amaterasu particle itself cannot be seen by the sensor array. When it collides with atoms in the air, it breaks apart in the atmosphere and creates a shower of rain; actually lower energy particles detected by the detectors. Sensor data allows you to restore the parameters of the initial particle and provide information for calculating its trajectory. The main task in such studies is to find out where it came from.

Particles with the highest energy levels are believed to be born outside our galaxy. Their sources may be relativistic processes in black holes or incredible gravitational disturbances. Finally, the reason for the emergence of such particles may be physics unknown to us outside the Standard Model. The Amaterasu particle may be one of these, as it comes from a region of the universe with no apparent source. For scientists, this is a rare opportunity to literally touch something unknown to science, and they promise to take full advantage of it.