Update on the correlation of the highest energy cosmic rays with nearby extragalactic matter

Authors

P. Abreu, Instituto Superior Técnico
M. Aglietta, Università degli Studi di Torino
E. J. Ahn, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory
D. Allard, APC - AstroParticule et Cosmologie
I. Allekotte, Instituto Balseiro
J. Allen, New York University
J. Alvarez Castillo, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
J. Alvarez-Muñiz, Universidad de Santiago de Compostela
M. Ambrosio, Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II
A. Aminaei, Radboud University Nijmegen
L. Anchordoqui, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
S. Andringa, Instituto Superior Técnico
T. Antičić, Institute Ruder Boskovic
A. Anzalone, INAF Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale e Fisica Cosmica di Palermo
C. Aramo, Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II
E. Arganda, Universidad Complutense de Madrid
K. Arisaka, University of California, Los Angeles
F. Arqueros, Universidad Complutense de Madrid
H. Asorey, Instituto Balseiro
P. Assis, Instituto Superior Técnico
J. Aublin, Laboratoire de Physique Nucléaire et de Hautes Energies
M. Ave, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Campus North
M. Avenier, Laboratoire de Physique Subatomique et de Cosmologie de Grenoble
G. Avila, Comision Nacional de Energia Atomica Argentina
T. Bäcker, Universität Siegen
D. Badagnani, Universidad Nacional de La Plata
M. Balzer, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology
K. B. Barber, The University of Adelaide
A. F. Barbosa, Centro Brasileiro de Pesquisas Físicas
R. Bardenet, Laboratoire de l'Accélérateur Linéaire
S. L.C. Barroso, Universidade Estadual do Sudoeste da Bahia
B. Baughman, The Ohio State University

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1-1-2010

Abstract

Data collected by the Pierre Auger Observatory through 31 August 2007 showed evidence for anisotropy in the arrival directions of cosmic rays above the Greisen-Zatsepin-Kuz'min energy threshold, 6 × 1019 eV. The anisotropy was measured by the fraction of arrival directions that are less than 3.1° from the position of an active galactic nucleus within 75 Mpc (using the Véron-Cetty and Véron 12th catalog). An updated measurement of this fraction is reported here using the arrival directions of cosmic rays recorded above the same energy threshold through 31 December 2009. The number of arrival directions has increased from 27 to 69, allowing a more precise measurement. The correlating fraction is 38-6+7%, compared with 21% expected for isotropic cosmic rays. This is down from the early estimate of 69-13+11%. The enlarged set of arrival directions is examined also in relation to other populations of nearby extragalactic objects: galaxies in the 2 Microns All Sky Survey and active galactic nuclei detected in hard X-rays by the Swift Burst Alert Telescope. A celestial region around the position of the radiogalaxy Cen A has the largest excess of arrival directions relative to isotropic expectations. The 2-point autocorrelation function is shown for the enlarged set of arrival directions and compared to the isotropic expectation. © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Publication Title

Astroparticle Physics

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