This article originally appeared on kcpw. Please visit their site to listen to Dr. Matthews's full discussion on Cool Science Radio.

You know you’ve detected something big when you name it the “Oh My God Particle.” In 1991, the most powerful cosmic ray ever was detected at the University of Utah’s Fly’s Eye observatory at the U.S. Army’s Dugway Proving Ground.

Now, thanks to the expansion of these detectors and other cosmic measuring tools in 2021, researchers once again detected another god-worthy particle, the second highest-energy cosmic ray ever, and appropriately named it the Amaterasu particle, after the Japanese Sun Goddess.

Dr. John Matthews of the Telescope Array Project in Delta, Utah, talks about these particles (from unknown sources) and help us with our understanding of cosmic rays.

Featured image illustration credit: Osaka Metropolitan U./L-INSIGHT, Kyoto U./Ryuunosuke Takeshige