Monday 20 July 2015
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| Antimatter reservoir. A newly discovered belt of antiprotons lies within the innermost portion (pink) of Earth's magnetosphere, the large bubblelike region interior to the blue arc that is controlled by the planet's magnetic field. |
Antiprotons
in 2011 researchers analyzing data from the 2006 PAMELA (Payload for Antimatter/Matter Exploration and Light-nuclei Astrophysics) identified 28 antiprotons with kinetic energies between 60 million and 750 million electron volts. That number is far higher than scientists would expect to see shooting toward Earth from distant reaches of the galaxy. The antiparticles appear to form a thin belt around Earth, gyrating around Earth's magnetic field lines and bouncing back and forth between the planet's north and south magnetic poles. The belt, which extends from a few hundred to about 2000 kilometers above Earth. The antiprotons in the belt are nearly a trillion times more valuable than diamonds,
Previously, the anti proton source was postulated to be sourced from annihilation of stars being ripped apart by Neutron stars and blackholes (1999 ESA INTEGRAL) and recently rogue antimatter found in thunderclouds
The study titled ‘The Discovery of Geomagnetically Trapped Cosmic-ray Antiprotons’, published in Astrophysical Journal Letters, suggests that a thin band of antiprotons has been observed in the Van Allen belt surrounding Earth, and thus being able to be trapped by Earths magnetic field
Source: Antimatter Belt and Astrophysics Journal, letters
