Pierre Auger Observatory

The highest energy cosmic ray particles are likely to penetrate much deeper into the atmosphere than previously thought. The incoming particles are therefore likely to be much heavier. New and fundamental insights emerge from a method that generalises the approach to predicting models of cosmic particle collisions with the Earth's atmosphere. The accuracy of Jakub Vícha's method has been confirmed by hundreds of international scientists at the Pierre Auger Observatory, as shown in a study published these days in Physical Review D.

On Friday, March 8, scientists from the Institute of Physics explained the secrets of cosmic rays and how to measure them at the Pierre Auger Observatory in Argentina to nearly thirty high school students.

The Pierre Auger Collaboration is releasing 10% of the data recorded using the world’s largest cosmic ray detector.  These data are being made available publicly with the expectation that they will be used by a wide and diverse community including professional and citizen-scientists and for educational and outreach initiatives.

This year marks the 20th anniversary since the founding agreement of the international Pierre Auger Observatory in Argentina has been signed. The celebration ceremony that took place last week in Malargüe was attended not only by a delegation of Czech scientists but also by the Czech Ambassador in Argentina Karel Beran.

Masek took the picture of it with the aid of the FRAM robotic telescope, which is a part of the Pierre Auger Observatory in Argentina. The observatory is designed to detect ultra-high-energy cosmic rays.