The most energetic light ever seen emanating from the Sun has just been detected, creating a new puzzle for solar physicists to solve.
A 6-year observing campaign by more than 30 institutions across North America, Europe, and Asia has resulted in the first ever detection of solar gamma radiation in the teraelectronvolt (TeV) range.
But, contrary to what you might expect, it did not correlate to heightened solar activity; or, indeed, any solar activity. Rather, the Sun was pretty calm at the time of the detection, and our current models of the Sun can’t quite account for it.
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