Cosmic rays are high-energy particles moving at close to the speed of light. They can strike our bodies with so much damage that they shatter DNA, especially when we're away from the Earth's protective magnetosphere. But their source has always been a mystery. Now, astronomers think they might have located where they're coming from: pulsar wind nebulae. These are expanding bubbles around neutron stars that have been energized with radiation from the dead star.

Where did cosmic rays come from? Astrophysicists are closer to finding out

New research published by Michigan State University astrophysicists could help scientists answer a century-old question: Where did galactic cosmic rays come from?

(phys.org)