The Pierre Auger Observatory and its Upgrade

REVIEW

  • The Pierre Auger Collaboration
DOI: https://doi.org/10.52712/sciencereviews.v1i4.31

Abstract

The Pierre Auger Observatory was built to study cosmic rays of the highest energies. It is installed in the Departments of Malarg¨ue and San Rafael in the Province of Mendoza, Argentina. The Observatory is based on a hybrid design, comprised by two detector systems: a surface array of 1660 water Cherenkov detectors is complemented with 27 fluorescence telescopes which overlook the atmosphere above the surface array. Covering a total area in excess of 3000 km2, it is the largest and most precise observatory of its kind. It has been in full operation for over a decade now. In this article we review the objectives and design properties of the Pierre Auger Observatory, present its performance and the main scientific results obtained so far, and we describe the Upgrade that is well underway to enhance its capabilities for the next decade of measurements.

Author Biography

The Pierre Auger Collaboration

The Pierre Auger Collaboration is a scientific collaboration with more than 400 scientists, engineers and technicians from over 80 institutions from 17 countries: Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Colombia, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, The Netherlands and USA. The collaboration has built and operates the largest cosmic ray observatory worldwide, the Pierre Auger Observatory, located in the Province of Mendoza, Argentina.

Published
2020-09-14
Issue
Vol 1 No 4: September 2020
Section
Articles