Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics
Scientific paper
May 1996
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1996aps..may..f201s&link_type=abstract
American Physical Society, APS/AAPT Joint Meeting, May 2-5, 1996, abstract #F2.01
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
Scientific paper
The origin of the highest energy cosmic rays is a long-standing puzzle. In recent years it has become an especially intriguing mystery due to the detections of two particles with measured energies well beyond the expected spectral cutoff. The existence of particles with energies above about 10^20 eV is difficult to reconcile with long propagation distances through the microwave background radiation, since pion photoproduction should rob such particles of their energy. Nevertheless, the Fly's Eye detector in Utah measured a cosmic ray air shower of 3.2× 10^20 eV, and the AGASA detector in Japan measured an air shower of 2× 10^20 eV. The propagation distance for such energetic particles is limited to less than about 50 Mpc. Moreover, the high magnetic rigidity means that each particle's arrival direction should point approximately toward its origination site. The curious thing is that there are no remarkable astrophysical objects in those particular directions and close enough to be the sources of these detected energetic particles. It would seem that some new physics or exciting astrophysics will result from the resolution of this mystery. A world-wide effort is underway to build a vast cosmic ray observatory to measure many more air showers produced by the highest energy cosmic rays. Named for the discoverer of such air showers, the Auger Project will have matching facilities in the northern and southern hemispheres in order to achieve uniform coverage of the entire sky. The observatory in each hemisphere will include both a giant array of particle counters on the ground and an air fluorescence (fly's eye) detector to measure the air shower development above ground level. The total detector area is to be at least 6000 km^2.
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