Correlation of the highest-energy cosmic rays with nearby extragalactic objects
Date
2007
Authors
Abraham, J.
Abreu, P.
Aglietta, M.
Aguirre, I.
Allard, D.
Allekotte, I.
Allen, J.
Allison, P.
Alvarez, C.
Alvarez-Muniz, J.
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Journal article
Citation
Science, 2007; 318(5852):938-943
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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 1019 electron volts and the positions of active galactic nuclei (AGN) lying within 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 distribution are possible sources.
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© 2007 American Association for the Advancement of Science