Constraining the origin of the highest-energy cosmic-ray events detected by the Pierre Auger Observatory: a three-dimensional approach
Unveiling the sources of ultra-high-energy cosmic rays remains one of the main challenges of high-energy astrophysics. Measurements of anisotropies in their arrival directions are key to identifying their sources, yet magnetic deflections obscure direct associations. In this work, we reconstruct the sky regions of possible origin of the highest-energy cosmic-ray events detected by the Pierre Auger Observatory by tracing their trajectories through Galactic magnetic fields using up-to-date models, while fully accounting for energy and directional uncertainties. A mixed composition at injection is assumed to model the detected charge distributions of such events. Different classes of astrophysical sources are investigated and tested for a correlation with the inferred regions of origin of the events. By incorporating constraints on the maximum propagation distances, we also allow for a three-dimensional localization of the possible source regions. Our findings provide new constraints on the sources of the highest-energy cosmic particles and offer fresh insights into the role of Galactic magnetic fields in shaping the observed ultra-high-energy cosmic-ray sky.
Authors
- Belén Andrada
- Zbigniew Szadkowski (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2690-9912)
- Bruno L. Lago (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9672-0499)
- Carla Taricco (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0129-5539)
- Giovanni Consolati (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3614-245X)
- Juan Manuel Gonzalez (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9193-0921)
- S. Petrera (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6029-1255)
- T. Pierog (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7472-8710)
- G. Sigl (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4396-645X)
- Mateo Fernandez
- T. Huege (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2783-4772)
- Marta Bianciotto (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9599-3214)
- Nicolas Leal
- Carmina Pérez Bertolli (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9790-5732)
- Carlo Salvattore Cruz Sanchez (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0002-6173-0974)
- Frank Schröder (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8495-7210)
- Gustavo Medina‐Tanco (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3202-319X)
- A. C. Fauth (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7239-0288)
- Enrico Arnone (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6740-5051)
- Enrique Varela (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0715-7513)
- O. Schölten (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3649-1254)
- Olena Tkachenko (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6393-7851)
- Lorenzo Cazon (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6748-8395)
- Pierpaolo Savina (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7670-554X)
- B. R. Dawson (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4271-3055)
- Laura Valore
- A. Haungs (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9638-7574)
- Harm Schoorlemmer (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8999-9249)
- Dalibor Nosek (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6219-200X)
- G. Parente (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2847-0461)
- Paula Gina Isar (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1241-584X)
- Janning Meinert (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7582-3456)
- Emanuele De Vito (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2045-7588)
- Adila Abdul Halim (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1218-1737)
- Gonzalo Rodriguez Fernandez (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4683-230X)
- Jiří Blažek (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5870-8947)
- Therese Paulsen
- Adriel Bartz Mocellin
- Berenika Čermáková
- S. J. de Jong (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3120-3367)
- Alexey Yushkov (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5107-9116)
- K. Daumiller (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0527-4823)
- A. Insolia (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9040-1566)
- Darko Veberič (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2683-1526)
- María Isabel Micheletti (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1063-9938)
- A. Segreto (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7341-6603)
- L. Nellen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1059-8731)
- Felicia Barbato (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0751-6731)
- Jan Pękala
- Viviana Scherini (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3762-4063)
- Gabriela Nicora (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7504-6423)
- Thomas Fitoussi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9473-9356)
- Katarína Simkova (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2363-9846)
- R. Caruso (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1622-8731)
- I. Allekotte (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9624-3044)
- F. Sarazin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5614-1986)
- V. Verzi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2291-9387)
- Luis A. Núñez
- Chaitanya Priyadarshi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9160-9617)
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- E. Zas (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4430-8117)
- Clara Keiko Oliveira Watanabe
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- L. Miramonti (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2808-5363)
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- Maximilian Straub
- R. Mussa (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0294-9071)
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- Federico Maria Mariani
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- A. Castellina (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0045-2467)
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- T. Hebbeker (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9736-266X)
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- Agustín Cobos Cerutti
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- Edyvânia Emily Pereira Martins (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1167-8314)
- Fridtjof Feldbusch
- S. Vorobiov (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8679-3424)
- Ezequiel Rodriguez (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2523-1919)
- Alexander Novikov (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1086-7252)
- Varada Varma Kizakke Covilakam
- Emanuele Avocone (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3757-2718)
- Primo F. Gómez Vitale (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9689-2020)
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- Patricia María Hansen
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- Sergio J Sciutto
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- Carlos Hojvat
- Qader Dorosti (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9711-0609)
- Italo Epicoco
- Alberto Etchegoyen
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- A. A. Watson
- Rogerio M. de Almeida
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- P. Gabriel Brichetto Orchera
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- Diego Melo
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- Matías Rolf Hampel
- Veronika Vašíčková
- Alexandra Fernandes (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9187-4007)
- Ugo GIACCARI
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- Luiz Augusto Pereira
- Sara Martinelli
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- Cristina Galea
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- Matteo Conte
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- Jannis Pawlowsky
- Danelise de Oliveira Franco
- Juan Manuel Figueira
- Federico Campuzano
- Frederik Krieger
- Sven Querchfeld
- Karl-Heinz Kampert
- Jacco Vink
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- Luciana Andrade Dourado
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- Megha Mogarkar
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- Eric-Teunis de Boone
- Mohamed Ismaiel
- Karolina Syrokvas
- Matteo Tambone
- Pim van Dillen
Publication Details
- Published
- 2025-09-23
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.22323/1.501.0195
- Primary Topic
- Astrophysics and Cosmic Phenomena
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- Strong
- European Commission
- Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
- Agence Nationale de la Recherche
- Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo
- Ministerstvo Školství, Mládeže a Tělovýchovy
- Grantová Agentura České Republiky
- Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung
- Fonds De La Recherche Scientifique - FNRS
- Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas
- Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek
- Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico
- Fundação Carlos Chagas Filho de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
- Financiadora de Estudos e Projetos
- Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia, Inovações e Comunicações
- Vlaamse regering
- Helmholtz Alliance for Astroparticle Physics
- Agencia Nacional de Promoción Científica y Tecnológica
- Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules