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Cosmic rays come from the sun, as well as other sources, but mostly from the sun. Cosmic rays are highly charged particles, not a particular type or class of ra
by robbedpeter 5y ago
Cosmic rays come from the sun, as well as other sources, but mostly from the sun. Cosmic rays are highly charged particles, not a particular type or class of radiation, and are energetic enough to produce ionizing cascades in the atmosphere.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmic_ray https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmic_ray
- bawolff 5y ago> Cosmic rays are highly charged particles, not a particular type or class of radiation, Umm, how is energetic charged particles not radiation? Isn't that just what alpha and beta radiation is?
- robbedpeter 5y agoCosmic rays can be all of the above. It's a term describing the source of the radiation, not a particular type or quality of radiation in itself.
- pdonis 5y ago> Cosmic rays are highly charged particles, not a particular type or class of radiation Highly charged particles are a type of radiation, at least as that term is used in the context of this discussion. (Yes, in some physics contexts "radiation" only refers to massless particles like photons, but in such a context no "radiation" to speak of comes from nuclear reactors either, since the potentially hazardous radiation from nuclear reactors is neutrons and some alphas and betas.)