More than half a century after the discovery of the most mysterious cosmic rays around the planet, researchers in South America have found evidence that they come from outside the Milky Way galaxy.
Evidence suggests that rays, made up of vital sub-atomic particles, were born from violent events that occurred millions of light years away from our galaxy.
Science Journal published the new discovery after 12 years of data collection through the Besres Oger Observatory in Argentina.
The observatory has 1,600 particle detectors spread across a vast hexagonal network to detect cosmic rays.
Cosmic rays are small fragments of atoms, filling space with varying amounts of energy.
Low or medium-energy rays are believed to come from within our galaxy, from which giant stars are formed as well as the sun.
But the source of the ultra-powerful cosmic rays, which are millions of times larger than any other rays, is still unknown.
"This study confirms that most high-energy cosmic particles do not come from the Milky Way galaxy," said lead author Gregory Snow of the University of Nebraska Lincoln.
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