Record gamma rays detected at Milky Way's core
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At the High-Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) observatory, 13,000 feet above sea level on the Sierra Negra volcano of Mexico, researchers are getting a look into a violent mystery in the Milky Way galaxy. An international research team co-led by Los Alamos National Laboratory observed ultrahigh-energy gamma rays at more than 100 teraelectron volts, tracking their origin to the galactic center for the first time.
"These results are a glimpse at the center of the Milky Way to an order of magnitude higher energies than ever seen before," said Pat Harding, physicist at Los Alamos and the Department of Energy's principal investigator for the project.
"The research for the first time confirms a PeVatron source of ultrahigh-energy gamma rays at a location in the Milky Way known as the Galactic Center Ridge, meaning the galactic center is home to some of the most extreme physical processes in the universe."
