Cosmic ray

High school (ages 12+)
Space & Astronomy

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/cosmic-ray

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. Who discovered Cosmic ray?1912
2. What is the key discoverer?Victor Hess (Nobel Prize in Physics, 1936)
3. What is the identified sources?Supernova remnants, active galactic nuclei (AGN), pulsars, and potentially gamma-ray bursts
4. What are cosmic rays?Cosmic rays are tiny, super‑fast particles from space, mainly protons and atomic nuclei, that travel almost at the speed of light.
5. Where do the fastest cosmic rays come from?They mostly come from outside our solar system, such as supernova remnants, active galactic nuclei, and blazars.

Astroparticle Physics: A field of physics that studies elementary particles originating from celestial sources.
Extensive Air Shower (EAS): A cascade of secondary particles produced when a primary cosmic ray collides with the Earth's atmosphere.
Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN): Compact regions at the center of galaxies that emit a large amount of electromagnetic radiation, powered by supermassive black holes.
Supernova Remnant: The structure resulting from the explosion of a star in a supernova, expanding into the surrounding interstellar medium.