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Identification
Hosting Legal Entity
Pierre Auger Observatory
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Location
Av. San Martin Norte 304, Pierre Auger Observatory, Malargue, Mendoza (Argentina)
Structure
Type Of RI
Single-sited
Coordinating Country
Germany
Participating Countries
France
Norway
United Kingdom
Sweden
China
Korea (Republic of)
Austria
Finland
New Zealand
Spain
Netherlands
Iceland
Switzerland
United States
India
Czech Republic
Belgium
Germany
Japan
Italy
Status
Status
Current Status:
Operational
since 2008
Scientific Description
The Pierre Auger Cosmic Ray Observatory is studying ultra-high energy cosmic rays, the most energetic and rarest of particles in the universe. When these particles strike the earth's atmosphere, they produce extensive airshowers made of billions of secondary particles. While much progress has been made in nearly a century of research in understanding cosmic rays with low to moderate energies, those with extremely high energies remain mysterious. The Pierre Auger Observatory is working on solving these mysteries.The Observatory was constructed and is operated by the Pierre Auger Collaboration, an international collaboration of about 90 institutions in 18 countries. Funding is provided by scientific funding agencies in each of the participating countries. To achieve the scientific goals, the collaboration designed the AugerObservatory for a high statistics study of cosmic rays at the highest energies. Measured properties of the air showers determine the energy and arrival direction of each cosmic ray. They also provide a statistical determination of the distribution of primary masses (cosmic ray composition). The Auger Observatory in the Province of Mendoza, Argentina, has been taking data since 2004, adding detectors as they became active until completion in 2008.The Auger Observatory is a "hybrid detector," employing two independent methods to detect and study high-energy cosmic rays. One technique detects high energy particles through their interaction with water placed in surface detector tanks. The other technique tracks the development of air showers by observing ultraviolet light emitted high in the Earth's atmosphere. The hybrid nature of the Pierre Auger Observatory provides for two independent ways to see cosmic rays. These two ways are an array of surface detector stations, and a collection of air fluorescence telescopes.The first detection248356 223590474336854 5334106 n method uses the Observatory's main visible feature - the 1,660 water surface detector tanks that cover about 3,000 km2 of the Pampa, an area about 30 times the size of Paris, and serve as particle detectors. Each 3,000-gallon (12,000 liter) tank, separated from each of its neighbors by 1.5 kilometers, is completely dark inside - except when particles from a cosmic ray air shower pass through it. These energetic particles are traveling faster than the speed of light in water when they reach the detectors; therefore, their electromagnetic shock waves produce Cherenkov light that can be measured by photomultiplier tubes mounted on the tanks. Extensive air showers contain billions of secondary particles and can cause nearly simultaneous bursts of light in more than five tanks. Scientists can determine the energy of the primary cosmic ray particle based on the amount of light they detect from a sample of secondary particles. Slight differences in the detection times at different tank positions help scientists determine the trajectory of the incoming cosmic ray.The charged particles in aInside A Fluorescence Detectorn air shower also interact with atmospheric nitrogen, causing it to emit ultraviolet light via a process called fluorescence, which is invisible to the human eye - but not to the Auger Observatory's optical detectors. The observatory's second detection method uses these detectors to observe the trail of nitrogen fluorescence and track the development of air showers by measuring the brightness of the emitted light. To the fluorescence detectors, a cosmic ray looks like a UV light bulb rocketing through the atmosphere at the speed of light, with an ever-increasing brightness that can reach up to four watts as the cascade grows to its maximum size. Using a grid of focusing mirrors to collect the light, cameras can view the air shower up to 15 kilometers away. The Auger Observatory's fluorescence detectors are much more sensitive than the human eye and can "see" distant air showers develop. Occasionally, a cascade will occur in a place where two fluorescence detectors can record it, which allows for very precise measurements of the direction the cosmic ray came from.
RI Keywords
UHECR, Astroparticle physics, Cosmic rays
Classifications
RI Category
Astro-particle and neutrino detectors and observatories
High Energy Physics Facilities
High Energy Physics Facilities
Scientific Domain
Physics, Astronomy, Astrophysics and Mathematics
ESFRI Domain
Physical Sciences and Engineering
Services
Observatory campus services
Services provided to Collaboration include office space, computing facilities, equipment assembly areas, communications infrastructure, and a quasi-permanent staff of technical and office personnel.
Equipment
Observatory equipment and instrumentation
The Observatory includes 24 main Fluorescence Detectors (FD), more than 1600 Surface Detectors (SD), and atmospheric monitoring equipment. Supplemental equipment includes 3 High-Elevation FDs, muon detectors (under construction), an engineering radio array (AERA), and various R&D projects. All of this equipment is operated by members of the Collaboration.
Date of last update: 31/01/2018