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The Auger Observatory in Argentina

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Abstract

The Auger Project studies the highest energies known in nature with an emphasis on energies ≥5 × 1019 eV, which are cosmic rays coming from the outer space reaching the Earth's surface with a very low flux. The questions to be elucidated are what are the origin, energy, production mechanism, and chemical composition of these cosmic rays. Auger aims at building two observatories in both the hemispheres and in 2000 the construction of the austral observatory started. Auger's two distinctive features are its exceptional size and its hybrid nature. It spans over an area of 3000 km2 and is constituted by 24 fluorescence detector telescopes and 1600 surface detectors. As such, it will provide a large number of events with less systematic detection uncertainties.

The construction of the Southern Observatory in Argentina is quite advanced and the buildings at the Central Station in Malargüe city are already operational. So are the telescope buildings at Cerros Los Leones and Coihueco (two prototype telescopes were operational at Los Leones, which have now been dismantled), 32 surface detectors, and the telecommunication and data acquisition systems. About 20-hybrid events/months were detected and currently two events/hours are registered with the surface detector array. The detection of hybrid events is the most important issue since it shows that the equipment operates within the design parameters.

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  1. Laboratorio Tandar, CNEA & CONICET, San Martín, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Alberto Etchegoyen

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  1. Alberto Etchegoyen
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Correspondence to Alberto Etchegoyen.

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Etchegoyen, A. The Auger Observatory in Argentina. Astrophysics and Space Science 290, 379–387 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1023/B:ASTR.0000032536.35456.82

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