Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.

Science 9 November 2007:
Vol. 318. no. 5852, pp. 938 - 943
DOI: 10.1126/science.1151124
Prev | Table of Contents | Next

Research Articles

Correlation of the Highest-Energy Cosmic Rays with Nearby Extragalactic Objects

The Pierre Auger Collaboration*

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.

* The full list of authors and their affiliations appears at the end of this paper.

Observatorio Pierre Auger, Avenida San Martín Norte 304, (5613) Malargüe, Mendoza, Argentina. E-mail: auger_collaboration2{at}fnal.gov

Read the Full Text


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
On the acceleration of ultra-high-energy cosmic rays.
F. Fraschetti (2008)
Phil Trans R Soc A 366, 4417-4428
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »


To Advertise     Find Products

Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)