E-Mail IMAGE: A lightning mapper at the High Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) Cosmic Ray Observatory in Mexico unexpectedly observed that gamma rays produce more neutrons than previously known. view more Credit: Jordan Goodman, HAWC Collaboration (NSF.gov) LOS ALAMOS, N.M., April 28, 2021--Analysis of data from a lightning mapper and a small, hand-held radiation detector has unexpectedly shed light on what a gamma-ray burst from lightning might look like - by observing neutrons generated from soil by very large cosmic-ray showers. The work took place at the High Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) Cosmic Ray Observatory in Mexico. "This was an accidental discovery," said Greg Bowers, a scientist at Los Alamos National Laboratory and lead author of the study published in