CHICAGO, Nov. 8 (UPI) -- An international group of scientists announced the still-under-construction Auger Cosmic Ray Observatory in Argentina has found the origin of cosmic rays.
The Auger collaboration of scientists said the initial finding of the observatory involves the tracing of high-energy cosmic rays that continually pelt the Earth to the cores of nearby galaxies, which emit prodigious quantities of energy.
"This is a fundamental discovery," said Nobel laureate James Cronin, a professor emeritus in physics at the University of Chicago. "The age of cosmic-ray astronomy has arrived. In the next few years, our data will permit us to identify the exact sources of these cosmic rays and how they accelerate these particles.
"We have taken a big step forward in solving the mystery of the nature and origin of the highest-energy cosmic rays," he added.
The observatory consists of an array of detectors that cover 1,200 square miles of the Pampa Amarilla, a vast plain in western Argentina. The array -- now 90 percent operational -- consists of 1,600 detectors spaced at one-mile intervals.
The Auger collaboration, including 370 scientists and engineers from 17 nations, announced the discovery in the Friday issue of the journal Science.
