Several experiments designed to detect the showers of spacefaring particles have found more high - energy positrons than expected (SN: 5/4/13, p. 14), and astrophysicists have debated the excess positrons» source ever since.
When cosmic rays — spacefaring protons or atomic nuclei — smash into the atmosphere at ultrahigh energies, they launch a cascade of many other types of particles, including muons.