Correlation of the Highest-Energy Cosmic Rays with Nearby Extragalactic Objects
Indexed inarxivcrossrefpubmed
Abstract
Using data collected at the Pierre Auger Observatory during the past 3.7 years, we demonstrated a correlation between the arrival directions of cosmic rays with energy above 6 x 10(19) electron volts and the positions of active galactic nuclei (AGN) lying within approximately 75 megaparsecs. We rejected the hypothesis of an isotropic distribution of these cosmic rays with at least a 99% confidence level from a prescribed a priori test. The correlation we observed is compatible with the hypothesis that the highest-energy particles originate from nearby extragalactic sources whose flux has not been substantially reduced by interaction with the cosmic background radiation. AGN or objects having a similar spatial…
Citation impact
793
total citations
- FWCI
- 181.00
- Percentile
- 100%
- References
- 23
Citations per year
Authors
444Topics & keywords
Topics
Keywords
- Pierre Auger Observatory
- Cosmic ray
- Physics
- Astrophysics
- Ultra-high-energy cosmic ray
- Astronomy
- Flux (metallurgy)
- Isotropy
UN Sustainable Development Goals
- Affordable and clean energy
No related works found for this paper.