Interstellar space is pervaded by protons and other atomic nuclei that move at nearly the speed of light. These particles, called cosmic rays, were first detected more than a century ago by Hess. Hess found that the ionization rate increases with altitude, and concluded that “radiation of very high penetrating power enters from above into our atmosphere” and observatories have found that cosmic rays can reach energies of more than 1 petaelectronvolt .how many PeVatrons reside in our Galaxy.

