ASTRO In the literature: contested

At what energy do extragalactic cosmic rays take over from Galactic ones?

In plain words

Below some energy cosmic rays come from our own galaxy and above it from other galaxies; whether the handover happens near $1e17\,\mathrm{eV}$ or near $5e18\,\mathrm{eV}$ (the ankle, where the spectrum flattens) is unsettled.

Precise statement

Determine the energy at which the extragalactic flux exceeds the Galactic flux, using the iron knee near $8e16\,\mathrm{eV}$, the second knee near $1e17\text{ to }3e17\,\mathrm{eV}$, the ankle near $5e18\,\mathrm{eV}$, the energy dependence of the mean shower depth $X_{\mathrm{max}}$ and its spread (lightest composition near $2e18\,\mathrm{eV}$), and the change of the dipole direction from near the Galactic center below $1e18\,\mathrm{eV}$ to away from it above $8e18\,\mathrm{eV}$. Answer: the transition energy and the Galactic component spectrum, including whether a second Galactic population beyond the knee sources is required.

What would settle it

Mass-resolved spectra and anisotropies from $1e16 \text{ to } 1e19\,\mathrm{eV}$ with overlapping detectors, fit by a two-population model with propagation.

See also