Askaryan radiation

Remember playing with magnets and noticing that they can push and pull each other without touching? Well, imagine that instead of magnets, we have charged particles moving very fast through a medium, like ice or water.

When these charged particles move through the medium, they create pressure waves that spread out and make a sound, kind of like when you dive into a pool and make a big splash. This sound is called a shockwave.

Now, if we have lots of these charged particles moving at once, we get lots of shockwaves. These shockwaves can add up and create a very strong wave of pressure, like a big explosion.

This explosion of pressure is called Askaryan radiation, and it happens in very specific situations. For example, when high-energy particles from space called neutrinos collide with Earth's atmosphere, they create a shower of charged particles that move through the ice in Antarctica. This creates Askaryan radiation that scientists can detect with special antennas.

So, in summary, Askaryan radiation is created when fast-moving charged particles in a medium create a shockwave that adds up to a big explosion of pressure. Scientists can detect this when high-energy particles collide with Earth's atmosphere and create a shower of charged particles in the ice.