Abstract
Wdowczyk and Wolfendale1 have recently suggested that the cosmic-ray beam at 1015–1016 eV may contain a significant flux of γ rays from the direction of the galactic plane, and that this flux may affect the measured all-particle anisotropy and energy spectrum at these energies. We have searched for an excess of cosmic-ray events from the direction of the galactic plane. We can set upper limits which are close to the flux predicted by Wdowczyk and Wolfendale for the full galactic plane, and also for regions around the galactic centre. We have used these upper limits to place limits on the apparent brightness distribution of galactic γ-ray sources above 1015 eV, and on any contribution these sources can make to the cosmic-ray energy spectrum at the highest energies.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Wdowczyk, J. & Wolfendale, A. W. Nature 305, 609–610 (1983).
Samorski, M. & Stamm, W. Astrophys. J. Lett. 268, L17–L21 (1983).
Lloyd-Evans, J. et al. Nature 305, 784–787 (1983).
Protheroe, R. J., Clay, R. W. & Gerhardy, P. R. Astrophys. J. Lett. 280, L47–L50 (1984).
Dzikowski, T. et al. Proc. 17th int. Cosmic Ray Conf., 1, 8–11 (1981).
Boone, J. et al. in Proc. Cosmic Ray Workshop, (ed. Gaisser, T. K.) 268–288 (Bartol, Newark, 1983).
Clay, R. W., Gerhardy, P. R. & Liebing, D. F. Aust. J. Phys. 37, 91–95 (1984).
Crouch, P. C. et al. Nucl. Instrum. Meth. 179, 467–476 (1981).
Clark, G. W. Phys. Rev. 108, 450–457 (1957).
Chitnis, E. V., Sarabhai, V. A. & Clark, G. W. Phys. Rev. 119, 1085–1091 (1960).
Lloyd-Evans, J. thesis, Univ. Leeds (1982).
Lambert, A., Lloyd-Evans, J., & Watson, A. A. Proc. 18th int. Cosmic Ray Conf., OG4-28 (1983).
Li, Ti-pei & Maz, Yu-quian, Astrophys. J. 272, 317–324 (1983).
Protheroe, R. J. Ast. Expr. (submitted).
Protheroe, R. J., Strong, A. W., Wolfendale, A. W. & Kiraly, P. Nature 277, 542–543 (1979).
Linsley, J., Origin of Cosmic Rays, IAU Symp. No. 94, 53–68 (1981).
Horton, L. et al. Proc. 18th int. Cosmic Ray Conf., 2, 153–156 (1983).
Braun, O. & Sitte, K. Proc. 9th int. Cosmic Ray Conf. 2, 712–714 (1965).
McComb, T. J. L., Protheroe, R. J. & Turver, K. E. J. Phys. G 5, 1613–1620 (1979).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Clay, R., Protheroe, R. & Gerhardy, P. Search for excess cosmic-ray events from the galactic plane. Nature 309, 687–688 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1038/309687a0
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/309687a0
- Springer Nature Limited
This article is cited by
-
Ultra-high energy radiation from young supernovae
Nature (1988)
-
Search for very-high-energy gamma-rays from the galactic disk
Il Nuovo Cimento C (1987)
-
First observation of ultra-high-energy γ rays from LMC X-4
Nature (1985)