Earthly thunderstorms create antimatter narrow streams

Amazing things manifest themselves in the study of Earth from orbit. It was found that thunderstorms sometimes produce narrow streams of antimatter, rushing at a great height. In 2009, researchers announced that cosmic gamma-ray telescope Fermi launched NASA, discovered gamma rays, whose appearance was caused by antimatter annihilation, generated by lightning.

Now, after further analysis of gamma-ray signals produced obtained under terrestrial conditions positrons (antiparticles of electrons), Michael C. Briggs of the University of Alabama and his colleagues believe that the appearance of beams of antiparticles do not require any special conditions. Briggs presented the findings at a press conference of the American Astronomical Society, held January 10, 2011-year.

According to Briggs, positrons and electrons in a thundercloud form gamma-ray burst - a short gamma-ray emissions (the nature of gamma-ray bursts, which are observed from the 1990s, are still poorly understood). When the positrons encounter electrons, they annihilate, producing gamma rays with a specific energy density: 511 000 electron volts.

Fermi telescope, usually located just above the storm, when the recorded gamma rays with a specific energy. However, in 4 cases, the next storm raged in thousands of kilometers away from the district, which is under the satellite.

For example, December 14, 2009 gamma-ray telescope observed region of Egypt, and the only active at the time the storm could be found in Zambia, 4,500 km to the south. The storm was out of sight of the telescope Fermi, he gave one to gamma rays whose characteristics are consistent with the annihilation of positrons and electrons. Gamma signal lasted for 30 milliseconds, and proved to be the longest of all recorded similar signals of terrestrial origin.

Group Briggs suggests that electrons and positrons storm in Zambia went into space along the lines of Earth's magnetic field to achieve the gamma-ray telescope. Many of them annihilate with electrons of the satellite immediately, serving as a source of powerful gamma-ray bursts, but some passed gamma-ray telescope and only 23 milliseconds later came back as a result of the magnetic reflection to call a second flash of gamma radiation.

via factroom.ru