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High Energy Astrophysics
 
 

Welcome to High Energy Astrophysics

This is the home page of the Experimental High Energy Astrophysics Group at the Physics Department at Case Western Reserve University

 

November 8th: News! The Pierre Auger Observatory reports on arrival directions of highest energy cosmic rays.

  • Here is the general press release document (coordinated out of Fermilab)

  • Here is a draft version of a local release by Susan Griffiths in the CWRU communications department.

  • If you want to read the actual paper in the Nov 9 version of Science click here.

  • More information: Contact Corbin Covault, Physics Department, Case Western Reserve Unversity. Phone: 216-368-4006, Mobile: 216-496-2077, email: corbin.covault@cwru.edu

  • Title and Abstract (Science Magazine, Science, vol.318, p.939-943 (9 November 2007):

    Correlation of the highest energy cosmic rays with nearby extragalactic objects

    by The Pierre Auger Collaboration

    Using data collected at the Pierre Auger Observatory during the past 3.7 years, we demonstrate that there is a correlation between the arrival directions of cosmic rays with energy above ~6 x 10^{19} eV and the positions of active galactic nuclei (AGN) lying within ~75 Mpc. We reject the hypothesis of an isotropic distribution of these cosmic rays at over 99% confidence level from a prescribed a priori test. The correlation we observe is compatible with the hypothesis that the highest energy particles originate from nearby extragalactic sources whose flux has not been significantly reduced by interaction with the cosmic background radiation. AGN or objects having a similar spatial distribution are possible sources.

    • What we do


    We are studying the highest energy processes in the universe using two different major ground-based experiments for detecting energetic radiation from outer space. These are:

    • the Solar Tower Atmospheric Cherenkov Experiment (STACEE)
    • the Pierre Auger Cosmic Ray Observatory (PAO)

    Both of these are world-class instruments for addressing major scientific issues in high energy astrophysics.

    Research activities on the STACEE and Auger projects described on this website are supported in part by the National Science Foundation.

    Additionally, members of our group are involved in two smaller research efforts: The X-ray Occulting Steerable Satellite ( XOSS ) and an exploration of the potential for the application of large heliostat mirror arrays to the search for extra-terrestrial intelligence ( OSETI ).

    If you are interested in research on any of these experiments, or in the activities of our group as a whole, please check out the links on this page.

    -- Corbin Covault , Associate Professor, Department of Physics, Case Western Reserve University


     
     
     

    This research is supported in part by a grant from the National Science Foundation