Raulken co.UK - Scientists ponder mysterious source of cosmic rays

By Lester Haines • Get more from this author Scientists are pondering the possible source of an "unexpected surplus of cosmic ray electrons at very high energy", and suggest they're either pouring out of an exotic object relatively close to Earth or...

WASHINGTON â€“ A balloon-borne instrument soaring high over Antarctica has found evidence of a possible large clump of mysterious so-called dark matter relatively close to our solar system, scientists said on Wednesday. This handout picture shows scientists launching a balloon from Williams Field in Antarctica in December 2005 that is carrying a scientific instrument that detected possible evidence of so-called dark matter in space. [Agencies] It detected an unexpected amount of very high energy cosmic ray electrons coming from an unknown source within about 3,000 light years of the solar system. A light-year is 6 trillion miles (10 trillion km), the distance light travels in a year. One explanation is that the electrons may have been spawned as dark matter particles collided with one another, triggering their mutual annihilation, according to Louisiana State University physics professor John Wefel. Scientists think perhaps 25 percent of the universe is made up of dark matter, which responds to gravity the same way as does regular matter such as stars and planets and the like. While the stuff is thought to be strewn throughout the cosmos, it is invisible and poorly understood. Scientists have struggled...
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