Essay on cosmic radiation

Submitted By knightcracka
Words: 591
Pages: 3

Cosmic Radiation I have always loved anything that has to do with space, weather it was space travel, planets and the cosmos. When Neil Armstrong first walked on the Moon it was a breathtaking step for humanity. With Curiosity, the robotic rover exploring Mars and Space X a company ready to take any passengers to explore space, we are always pushing the envelope to explore the deepest reach of space. But one thing I have always wondered is cosmic radiation. Cosmic radiation is a big part of creating earth and it affects us in many ways. Were going to look deep into what Cosmic Radiation is and also the effects it has on earth and us. Cosmic radiation is a collection of many different types of radiation from many different types of sources. When people speak simply of cosmic radiation they are usually referring specifically to the cosmic microwave background radiation. This consists of very, very low energy photons whose spectrum is peaked in the microwave region and which are remnants from the time when the universe was only about 200,000 years old. On top of these there are higher energy particles that are being created constantly by all luminous objects in the universe. Our sun, other stars, gamma-ray bursts and so on are creating photons of all different energies/wavelengths. These objects also produce high-energy massive particles such as electrons, protons and anti-protons. These higher energy particles are potentially dangerous, but most of these particles never make it to the earth. They are usually deflected by earth’s magnetic fields or they decay in flight. Different cosmic radiation can pass earth defense and those are the one that can be harmful. Gamma ray burst and Solar flares are the ones that can pass through the earth magnetic field and create catastrophic effects on earth. According to Scitechdaily.Com, Dr Neuhӓuser a Astrophysicist he comments: “If the gamma ray burst had been much closer to the Earth it would have caused significant harm to the biosphere. But even thousands of light years away, a similar event today could cause havoc with the sensitive electronic systems that advanced societies have come to depend on.”
Solar flares on the other hand are caused by the sun’s surface as a large energy release of up to sixth times total energy output of the sun. The release of vast amounts of