Extragalactic cosmic ray Extragalactic cosmic ray Extragalactic cosmic rays are very-high-energy particles that flow into the Solar System from beyond the Milky Way galaxy. The energies these particles possess are in excess of 10 eV. Unlike solar or galactic cosmic rays, little is known about the origins of extragalactic cosmic rays. This is largely due to a lack of statistics: only about 1 extragalactic cosmic ray particle per square meter per year reaches the Earth's surface (see figure). There are many ideas about which processes may be responsible for cosmic rays with such high energies. In the 'bottom-up' approach, cosmic rays gain more
NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database The NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database (NED) is an on-line astronomical database for astronomers that collates and cross-correlates astronomical information on extragalactic objects (galaxies, quasars, radio, x-ray and infrared sources, etc.). NED was created in the late 1980s by two Pasadena astronomers, George Helou and Barry F. Madore. NED is funded by NASA and is operated by the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center (IPAC) on the campus of the California Institute of Technology, under contract with NASA. NED is built around a master list of extragalactic objects for which cross-identifications of names have been established, accurate positions and redshifts