Lee Spacey - Cosmic Rays

Cosmic rays are energetic charged subatomic particles, originating from outer space, that impinge on Earth's atmosphere. They may produce secondary particles that may penetrate to the Earth's surface, and deeper. Cosmic rays are the same particles that are stable (nonradioactive) components of the types of atoms that normally occur on Earth, i.e. protons, atomic nuclei, or electrons. Cosmic rays thus resemble the particles that circulate inside particle accelerators, although cosmic ray energies may be far higher (see below). The term ray comes from the early days of radiation research, when a directed stream of any ionizing radiation was termed a "ray" (example, alpha rays).

Lee Spacey - Cosmic Rays by Lee_Spacey

Lee Spacey - The Dark Rift

The "Dark Rift" or "Great Rift" or "Milky Way Rift" is not actually a 'rift' at all. It is a series of overlapping dust and molecular gas clouds that are positioned between our solar system and the nuclear bulge of the galaxy. These clouds block the light from that portion of the milky way, and cause it to appear as if the Milky Way is divided into two roughly equal sections above and below them. These clouds (or 'dark nebulae') are several thousand light years distant, and almost completely obscure the central portion of the galaxy from our view.1 One of the Messier objects (M24) is actually a window or tunnel through the dust clouds. What appears to be a deep sky object is actually a portion of the Sagittarius Arm of the galaxy.

Lee Spacey - The Dark Rift by Lee_Spacey