CSB#2: Irregularities in Data lead to different theories on sources of stellar cosmic rays

Definitions:

Cosmic Rays: A series of stellar high velocity protons that have an immense amount of energy that occur rarely

Correlation of Active nuclei: A process in which scientists are able to trace cosmic rays to their sources by looking at components and direction in which they reached the atmosphere

GRB (Gamma Ray Bursts): stellar explosions that spew high energy nuclei

Summary:

        Stellar Cosmic rays that hit the earth's atmosphere supposedly contain ten million times as much energy as any artificial particle collider on this planet. The Pierre Auger Cosmic Ray Observatory South, a large cosmic ray detector, analyzes most of these rays and correlates them to active nuclei. Variants in the data of this detector fired a discrepancy between two theories that determined the sources of these rays. The 1st theory was that the cosmic rays came from close bodies inside the Milky Way Galaxy. However, once the Pierre Auger detector found a pattern of a greater amount of nuclei existing in a greater amount of energy, there came the possibility that the rays were composed not of protons, but of nuclei. 

        The 2nd theory suggested that these nuclei were created by a principal process called Gamma Ray Burst. GBRs are found much further away in the universe and leave correlations that are potentially, untraceable. Theorists are waiting for the next time a multitude of cosmic rays hit earth and by looking more deeply into the composition and repeating the correlation, one can find the theory whose claims are more likely. 

Discussion:

I choose this article because it possesses specific information and shows science in action by delivering two opposing point of views. However, I believe that we shouldn't rely on just this detector for the collection of data. If we have a multitude of these detectors, we can take an accurate average and then subsequently analyze the data. Another problem that may arise in the data is that when objects in space change, so does their composition and radiation. This change can affect our data significantly over time and we will rarely be receiving stable numbers. However, an advantage to this is that if we center on to one galaxy, we can see as time elapses, how radiation changes.

Questions:

Do magnetic fields and the gravity of other bodies in space affect the energy levels of these cosmic rays?

Does the presence of heavy particles in the rays mean that they come from galaxies close by?


Citations:
Article: 
Matson, John. "Which Ray?: Conflicting Data on High-Energy Cosmic Rays Leave
     Their Source--or Sources--Unresolved." Scientific American. N.p., n.d. Web.
     15 Oct. 2010. <http://www.scientificamerican.com/
     article.cfm?id=cosmic-ray-uhecr>.
Picture:
http://www2.slac.stanford.edu/vvc/cosmicrays/images/image5.gif