<p class="title">A 60-year-old mystery regarding the source of some energetic and potentially damaging particles in the Earth's radiation belts has been solved, using data from a student-operated shoebox-sized satellite.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The results indicate energetic electrons in Earth's inner radiation belt - primarily near its inner edge - are created by cosmic rays born from explosions of supernovas, said Professor Xinlin Li from University of Colorado at Boulder in the US.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Earth's radiation belts, known as the Van Allen belts, are layers of energetic particles held in place by the planet's magnetic field.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The team showed that during a process called "cosmic ray albedo neutron decay" (CRAND), cosmic rays entering Earth's atmosphere collide with neutral atoms, creating a "splash" which produces charged particles, including electrons, that become trapped by Earth's magnetic fields.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The findings have implications for understanding and better forecasting the arrival of energetic electrons in near-Earth space, which can damage satellites and threaten the health of space-walking astronauts, said Li.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"We are reporting the first direct detection of these energetic electrons near the inner edge of Earth's radiation belt," said Li, lead author of the study published in the journal Nature.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"We have finally solved a six-decade-long mystery," said Li.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Soon after the discovery of the Van Allen radiation belts in 1958, both American and Russian scientists concluded that CRAND was likely the source of high-energy protons trapped in Earth's magnetic field.</p>.<p class="bodytext">However, over the intervening decades, no one successfully detected the corresponding electrons that should be produced during the neutron decay.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The CubeSat mission, called the Colorado Student Space Weather Experiment (CSSWE), houses a small, energetic particle telescope to measure the flux of solar energetic protons and Earth's radiation belt electrons.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Launched in 2012, CSSWE has involved more than 65 CU Boulder students and was operated for more than two years from a ground station they built on the roof of a building on campus.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"This is really a beautiful result and a big insight derived from a remarkably inexpensive student satellite, illustrating that good things can come in small packages," said Daniel Baker, co-author of the study.</p>
<p class="title">A 60-year-old mystery regarding the source of some energetic and potentially damaging particles in the Earth's radiation belts has been solved, using data from a student-operated shoebox-sized satellite.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The results indicate energetic electrons in Earth's inner radiation belt - primarily near its inner edge - are created by cosmic rays born from explosions of supernovas, said Professor Xinlin Li from University of Colorado at Boulder in the US.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Earth's radiation belts, known as the Van Allen belts, are layers of energetic particles held in place by the planet's magnetic field.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The team showed that during a process called "cosmic ray albedo neutron decay" (CRAND), cosmic rays entering Earth's atmosphere collide with neutral atoms, creating a "splash" which produces charged particles, including electrons, that become trapped by Earth's magnetic fields.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The findings have implications for understanding and better forecasting the arrival of energetic electrons in near-Earth space, which can damage satellites and threaten the health of space-walking astronauts, said Li.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"We are reporting the first direct detection of these energetic electrons near the inner edge of Earth's radiation belt," said Li, lead author of the study published in the journal Nature.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"We have finally solved a six-decade-long mystery," said Li.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Soon after the discovery of the Van Allen radiation belts in 1958, both American and Russian scientists concluded that CRAND was likely the source of high-energy protons trapped in Earth's magnetic field.</p>.<p class="bodytext">However, over the intervening decades, no one successfully detected the corresponding electrons that should be produced during the neutron decay.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The CubeSat mission, called the Colorado Student Space Weather Experiment (CSSWE), houses a small, energetic particle telescope to measure the flux of solar energetic protons and Earth's radiation belt electrons.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Launched in 2012, CSSWE has involved more than 65 CU Boulder students and was operated for more than two years from a ground station they built on the roof of a building on campus.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"This is really a beautiful result and a big insight derived from a remarkably inexpensive student satellite, illustrating that good things can come in small packages," said Daniel Baker, co-author of the study.</p>