Space/Science — HabitableZone

Space/Science » in reply to re: I wonder if they looked at the Earth's atmosphere for Gamma rays.

re: I wonder if they looked at the Earth's atmosphere for Gamma rays.
SDAI-Tech1 — (archived)

Since gamma rays are a form of radiation, they obviously have something to do with radioactivity. If by "radioactivity" you mean the residue of nuclear waste and nuclear explosions then I'd say it is likely unrelated. Gamma ray formation simply requires any unstable atom to produce. The clays of the Earth emit gamma radiation, urnaium, radium and other elements emit gamma rays in abundance. For an atmospheric satellite to identify gamma radiation from our atmosphere means that particles are aloft which are decaying in significant quantity - or some other mechanism is at work which produces gamma radiation.

You seem to be suggesting that nuclear detonations and reactors have put measurable amounts of radioactive waste in the upper atmosphere. While this might be possible after a recent nuclear wepon detonation, the chances diminish over time as those heavier particles would wash down with the rains and simply could not sustain aloft over a period of years or even months. An easy test would be to observe the atmosphere for gamma radiation before and after a known nuclear testing and see if there is a substantial disparity. Of course this would be a pretty destructive experiment and I would prefer to monitor rogue nations' atmospheres rather than waste a perfectly good nuclear weapon. ;-)

The likelihood of some heretofore unknown reaction in storms or as a physical byproduct of lightning seems far more likely, simply due to the rate at which the radiation was detected and the nature of known radioactive nuclides.

Now that we are looking at an effect, we will surely find the cause soon.

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