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For the first time, scientists have spotted how a solar storm twists the stream of ultra-high-energy particles, turning them into a remote probe for magnetic fields.
Abstract
For the first time, China's LHAASO observatory detected brief changes in the large-scale anisotropy (uneven arrival) of cosmic rays at teraelectronvolt energies. Analysis of data from November 2021 showed that during the passage of a magnetic cloud from a solar storm, the particle flux unevenness sharply intensified (significance >5σ). This anisotropy scales with energy as ~E^{-0.5} and, at energies ≤1 TeV, forms a dipole pattern of at least 1%. Cosmic rays, like tiny probes, revealed otherwise invisible magnetic structures, opening up a new way to study them.
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Cosmic rays are like a downpour pelting from all sides. But when the wind blows, the droplets change direction. In the same way, a solar storm—a cloud of magnetized gas from the Sun—bends the paths of these particles that normally rain down on Earth evenly.
Cosmic rays are invisible messengers from distant galaxies. They are mostly atomic nuclei accelerated by explosions of supernovae or other cosmic catastrophes.
On November 4, 2021, such a storm swept over our planet. The LHAASO observatory in China detected a temporary ‘warp’ in the stream of particles with energies trillions of times higher than visible light. And the higher the energy, the weaker the particles responded to the magnetic hurricane—a simple relationship akin to a power law. These wanderers travel for millions of years to reach us, yet are deflected by a storm in just a few hours. Now, just as ripples on puddles tell of the wind, astronomers reconstruct the picture of invisible magnetic fields in space from the bending of these streams.
🎯 Cosmic rays may travel for millions of years before hitting our atmosphere, but a solar storm can deflect them in just a few hours.
🎬 In his novel 'Solar Storm', Arthur C. Clarke depicted a catastrophic flare; real storms are less menacing, but they still spring surprises like this discovery.
E^\gamma
E — the particle's energy, γ — the exponent, in this case about −0.5
