Artistic impression of muons showering the Earth. (IMAGE)

University of Tokyo

Artistic impression of muons showering the Earth.

Caption

Muons exist for only 2.2 microseconds (one microsecond is just one-millionth of a second), but because they travel at the speed of light in a vacuum (300,000 kilometers per second), they have enough time to reach Earth from the atmosphere and penetrate deep into the ground.

Credit

2015 Hiroyuki K.M. Tanaka

Usage Restrictions

Credit must be given to the creator.

License

CC BY

Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.