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Cosmic rays are very high-energy radiation, mostly from outside the Solar System.[1]
The term ray is a historical accident, as cosmic rays were at first, and wrongly, thought to be mostly electromagnetic radiation.
They are particles. Most are protons and alpha particles, which are the nuclei of helium atoms. Some are electrons (beta particles), gamma rays or photons and a tiny fraction are even heavier particles.
- ↑ Sharma (2008). Atomic and nuclear physics. Pearson Education India. p. 478. ISBN 978-81-317-1924-4.