Story perspectives

CERN's Plasma Fireballs Uncover Secrets of Missing Gamma Rays

11/5/2025

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Summary

Story summary

Researchers at CERN used the Super Proton Synchrotron to create plasma fireballs to study missing gamma rays and hidden magnetic fields, guiding future observations by the Cherenkov Telescope Array.
Physicists from the University of Oxford led the study on blazars, active galaxies that emit high-energy gamma rays.
Contrary to expectations, the particle beams remained stable, implying that weak intergalactic magnetic fields may explain the missing gamma rays.

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Story summary

Researchers at CERN used the Super Proton Synchrotron to create plasma fireballs to study missing gamma rays and hidden magnetic fields, guiding future observations by the Cherenkov Telescope Array.
Physicists from the University of Oxford led the study on blazars, active galaxies that emit high-energy gamma rays.
Contrary to expectations, the particle beams remained stable, implying that weak intergalactic magnetic fields may explain the missing gamma rays.