Antimatter belt discovered around Earth
AUG 08, 2011
DOI: 10.1063/PT.5.025493
BBC : Theories predicted that the Earth’s magnetic field can trap both matter and antimatter, and now data from the PAMELA instrument aboard a Russian Earth-monitoring satellite confirm this . A thin layer of antiprotons surrounds the Earth between the inner and outer Van Allen belts. The PAMELA instrument was carried into space in 2006 to study high-energy particles from the Sun and from beyond the solar system. Like other instruments in low-Earth orbit, it encounters an abundance of antiprotons when it passes through the South Atlantic Anomaly, which is an area where the inner Van Allen belt comes closest to the surface of Earth. In addition to confirming the theoretical work that had predicted the existence of antimatter bands, the belts of antiprotons could be a fuel source for future spacecraft .
© 2011 American Institute of Physics
