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Source- This post on GRAPES-3 experiment has been created based on the article “GRAPES-3 Experiment Redefines Laws of Cosmic Ray Physics” published in “Hans India” on 5 February 2024.
Why in the news?
The Tata Institute of Fundamental Research’s GRAPES-3 experiment, situated in Ooty, India, has revealed a new facet in the realm of cosmic ray physics.
About GRAPES-3 experiment (Gamma Ray Astronomy PeV EnergieS phase-3)
| Aspect | Details |
| About | GRAPES-3 (Gamma Ray Astronomy PeV EnergieS phase-3) is designed to study cosmic rays. It employs an array of air shower detectors and a large area muon detector. |
| Established by | Collaboration of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai, India and the Osaka City University, Osaka, Japan. |
| Location | Ooty (Tamilnadu) |
| Objective | To study the origin, acceleration and propagation of cosmic rays in the galaxy and beyond. |
Significance of recent findings
The recent findings from the GRAPES-3 experiment identify a new feature in the cosmic-ray spectrum, which has opened new avenues for understanding cosmic ray phenomena.
About Cosmic Ray
1) These rays were discovered more than a century ago.
2) They are considered to be the most energetic particles in the universe.
3) Earth is being constantly bombarded by cosmic ray from outer space. It comes uniformly from all directions at a constant rate.
4) They enter into Earth’s atmosphere and induce a shower of particles. These particles travel to the ground almost at the speed of light.
5) The shower particles consist of electrons, photons, muons, protons, neutrons etc.
6) They have been observed over a remarkably wide energy range (108 to 1020 eV).
UPSC Syllabus-Science & technology.
