Published on StarDate Online (https://stardate.org)

Home > Balloon Ride

Balloon Ride [1]

Victor Hess prepares to ascend in a balloon to study cosmic rays, 1912 [2]
Radiation Hunter [2]

Physicist Victor Hess prepares to ascend in a hot air balloon in April 1912 to measure a mysterious form of radiation later known as cosmic rays. Hess discovered that the rays are more intense at high altitudes than at the surface, indicating they come from beyond Earth. His 1912 flight took place during a total solar eclipse. The intensity of the rays did not diminish during the eclipse, eliminating the Sun as their source. Today, astronomers know the rays come from exploding stars, the cores of galaxies, and other distant sources, although the source of some cosmic rays is still unknown. [AIP]

Few things bother scientists more than experimental readings that can’t be explained. They’ll go to great lengths to figure it out -- or sometimes, great heights. A century ago this month, for example, a young Austrian physicist soared miles high in a hot-air balloon to solve such a problem.

Twenty-eight-year-old Victor Hess was puzzled by flashes of energy seen inside small, sealed chambers. The chambers were empty, or they contained gases with no electric charge. Yet they still showed occasional sparks.

Many scientists thought the sparks were caused by the decay of radioactive elements in Earth’s crust. But some early experiments showed the sparks were more intense above the ground than on it.

Hess began his balloon experiments in 1911. He found that the number of electrical discharges was greater at high altitudes -- an indication that the source was beyond Earth.

He went up again on April 12th, 1912, during a total solar eclipse. The number of sparks remained high even when the Sun was eclipsed, so the source couldn’t be the Sun -- it had to be something outside the solar system.

Other scientists named these mysterious sparks “cosmic rays.” Hess won a Nobel Prize for the discovery. Yet the source of the cosmic rays remained mysterious.

Today, we know that cosmic rays are parts of atoms. Some come from exploding stars. But the source of the most powerful cosmic rays remains a mystery -- one that today’s scientists are going to great lengths to solve.

 

Script by Damond Benningfield, Copyright 2012

 

Keywords:

  • Astronomers [3]
  • Balloon Astronomy [4]
  • Cosmic Rays [5]
  • Eclipses, Occultations and Transits [6]
  • History of Astronomy [7]
  • Nobel Prize [8]

Grade Level:

  • Grades 6-8 (Ages 11-13) [9]

Subject Areas:

  • Physics [10]
  • Science [11]
StarDate: 
Saturday, April 7, 2012
Teaser: 
Taking a balloon ride for science
Victor Hess prepares to ascend in a balloon to study cosmic rays, 1912 [2]
Victor Hess prepares to ascend in a balloon to study cosmic rays, 1912 [2]
  • About StarDate
  • Underwriting
  • SkyTips Sign-Up
  • Change mailing address
  • Privacy Policy
  • Copyright and Usage
  • Contact

StarDate is brought to you in part through the generous support of our underwriters.
Interested in underwriting? Let us know

 

FacebookTwitterYouTube

©2019 The University of Texas McDonald Observatory


Source URL: https://stardate.org/radio/program/balloon-ride

Links
[1] https://stardate.org/radio/program/balloon-ride
[2] https://stardate.org/astro-guide/gallery/radiation-hunter
[3] https://stardate.org/astro-guide/astronomers
[4] https://stardate.org/astro-guide/balloon-astronomy
[5] https://stardate.org/astro-guide/cosmic-rays
[6] https://stardate.org/astro-guide/eclipses-occultations-and-transits
[7] https://stardate.org/astro-guide/history-astronomy
[8] https://stardate.org/astro-guide/nobel-prize
[9] https://stardate.org/grade-level/grades-6-8-ages-11-13
[10] https://stardate.org/subject-areas/physics
[11] https://stardate.org/subject-areas/science