Cosmic ray
high-speed, i.e. high-energy particle, mainly originating in outer space, outside the Solar system
Cosmic rays or astroparticles are high-energy particles or clusters of particles (primarily represented by protons or atomic nuclei) that move through space at nearly the speed of light. They originate from outside the Solar System — from the Milky Way, from distant galaxies, and from the Sun.
Upon impact with Earth's atmosphere, cosmic rays produce showers of secondary particles, some of which reach the surface, although the bulk are deflected into space by Earth's magnetic field (the magnetosphere) or by the heliosphere.
Cosmic rays were discovered by Victor Hess in 1912 in balloon experiments, for which he was awarded the 1936 Nobel Prize in Physics.
Direct measurement of cosmic rays, especially at lower energies, has been possible since the first satellites in the late 1950s. Particle detectors similar to those used in nuclear and high-energy physics are used on satellites and space probes for research into cosmic rays. Data from the Fermi Space Telescope (2013) have been interpreted as evidence that a significant fraction of primary cosmic rays originate from the supernova explosions of stars. Based on observations of neutrinos and gamma rays from blazar TXS 0506+056 in 2018, active galactic nuclei also appear to produce cosmic rays.
Etymology
The term ray (as in optical ray) seems to have arisen from an initial belief, due to their penetrating power, that cosmic rays were mostly electromagnetic radiation. Nevertheless, following wider recognition of cosmic rays as being various high-energy particles with intrinsic mass, the term "rays" is consistent with known particles such as cathode rays, canal rays, alpha rays, and beta rays.
The public source identifies “Cosmic ray” as high-speed, i.e. high-energy particle, mainly originating in outer space, outside the Solar system. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Cosmic, high-speed and high-energy.
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Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 13, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q11547. The Library of Congress control number is sh85033155. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1912, 1936, 2013 and 2018.
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This entry incorporates text from “Cosmic ray” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.