As expected, the distribution of nearby AGNs is indeed strongly anisotropic, meaning that AGNs have non-uniform spatial distribution. For comparison, the green contours show a usual tracer of mass concentrations in the local Universe - the surface density of galaxies identified in the 'IRAS point source catalogue red-shift survey' at distances smaller than 70 megaparsecs, or about 230 million light years.

The large-scale feature in the north-east direction is consistent with the projected position of the highest mass concentrations in the local Universe - the Virgo cluster and the Great Attractor. The south-western structure is consistent with the position of the Perseus-Pisces supercluster.

Credits: ESA/Integral/ R.Krivonos et al.

The energies are greater than 57 billion of billions of electron-volts, and are shown as circles. The positions of 472 Active Galactic Nuclei (AGNs) within 75 megaparsecs, or about 245 million light years, are shown as red *s. The blue region defines the field of view of the Auger telescope and deeper blue indicates larger exposure.

The solid curve marks the boundary of the field of view. The closest AGN, Centaurus A, is marked as a white *. Two of the 27 cosmic rays have arrival directions within 3 degrees of this galaxy. The dashed curve delineates a region where large numbers of nearby galaxies, including AGNs, are concentrated.

Credits: Auger