Post by Andrei Tchentchik on Aug 20, 2020 18:31:50 GMT 2
(.#491).- Antimatter in our Galaxy ‘1’
Antimatter in our Galaxy ‘1’
Richard Taillet
Teacher, Physical Researcher.
Published 07/01/2005 - Modified 10/28/2015.
Archives
The processes that lead to the presence of antimatter on Earth are also at work in the Galaxy, and we do detect them in space. How do you detect antimatter?
• A - Detect antimatter
Several methods are used :
- Direct detection of antiparticles: they are allowed to pass through a device which records their trace and deduces their mass and charge. Several satellites and balloon missions have thus measured the flow of antiprotons arriving from space at the top of the Earth's atmosphere. In particular, the BESS mission (balloon, image above) and the test flight of the AMS space detector provided good measurements of this flux at energies close to GeV.
In addition, the AMS detector (image above) would be able to detect heavier anti-atoms if there are sufficient in the vicinity of the Earth.
- Indirect detection via the positron-electron annihilation line: we can cite the most recent, the SPI instrument on board the INTEGRAL satellite mission (image above) of which this is one of the strong points.
So what do we detect in this way? Essentially antinuclei and antielectrons. Let us examine these two cases separately.
(Continuation: (.#492). - Antimatter in our Galaxy ‘1’ Continued…)
F I N .
Antimatter in our Galaxy ‘1’
Richard Taillet
Teacher, Physical Researcher.
Published 07/01/2005 - Modified 10/28/2015.
Archives
The processes that lead to the presence of antimatter on Earth are also at work in the Galaxy, and we do detect them in space. How do you detect antimatter?
• A - Detect antimatter
Several methods are used :
- Direct detection of antiparticles: they are allowed to pass through a device which records their trace and deduces their mass and charge. Several satellites and balloon missions have thus measured the flow of antiprotons arriving from space at the top of the Earth's atmosphere. In particular, the BESS mission (balloon, image above) and the test flight of the AMS space detector provided good measurements of this flux at energies close to GeV.
In addition, the AMS detector (image above) would be able to detect heavier anti-atoms if there are sufficient in the vicinity of the Earth.
- Indirect detection via the positron-electron annihilation line: we can cite the most recent, the SPI instrument on board the INTEGRAL satellite mission (image above) of which this is one of the strong points.
So what do we detect in this way? Essentially antinuclei and antielectrons. Let us examine these two cases separately.
(Continuation: (.#492). - Antimatter in our Galaxy ‘1’ Continued…)
F I N .
