The cosmic rays are observed to be proportionately richer in heavy elements than are the stars, and they also contain more of the light elements lithium, beryllium, and boron, which are very rare in stars. One particularly interesting suggestion is that transuranium nuclei may have been detected in the cosmic rays. Uranium is element 92, the most massive naturally occurring on Earth; 20 elements beyond uranium (called the transuranium series) have been created artificially.
