| View Larger Image | Cosmic Bullets: High Energy Particles In Astrophysics (Frontiers of Science (Reading, Mass.).) | Paperbackby Roger Clay (Author), Paul Davies (Author), Bruce Dawson (Author)
| List Price: | $16.00 | | | Available: | Usually ships in 24 hours |
| | Binding: | Paperback | | Publisher: | Basic Books | | Page Count: | 208 Pages | | Publication Date: | April 22, 1999 | | Sales Rank: | 1,685,988st |
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Product Description
The first complete book on one of the oldest cosmic mysteries In 1992 the fastest object known to mankind hit the Earth's atmosphere at a speed within a billion-trillionth of one percent of the speed of light, carrying an energy far above that of the most powerful particle accelerator ever built. That object was a cosmic ray. Cosmic Bullets is the incredible story of the discovery and study of these messengers from deep space. The authors have captured the excitement and mystery of testing the utmost limits of scientific detection on these unusual particles. |
CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 4.0 based on 1 review)
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much unknown by W Boudville (Terra, Sol 3)  4 Stars
April 11, 2005
Cosmic rays are something that the general public has heard of, but typically has no idea what it is. Well, Clay hopes to dispel some of that ignorance in this brief text. He explains that these are nuclei often travelling at very high speeds; often several percent of the speed of light. Just being nuclei, without any accompanying electrons, means that they are highly charged.
Which gives rise to the experimental methods to detect and study them. Ranging from balloons carrying detectors high in the atmosphere to ground-based detectors. The experimental aspect of this field can be somewhat colourful.
But where do they come from? Why so energetic? He goes into several possible explanations. Possibly from stellar reactions deeper in the galaxy. But it is contentious as to what those reactions are. Some cosmic rays are known to come from our Sun, and give us insight into its structure and composition.
Much is still unknown in this field.
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