LHAASO

The LHAASO experiment (Large High Altitude Air Shower Observatory) is a Chinese observatory that aims to examine the sky in the range of high-energy gamma radiation and cosmic radiation. The installation of a muon -Detektionsfläche in size of 42000 m ² , in conjunction with an array of Cherenkov -Teleskopen, will allow, particle showers that of primary particles having energies of the order of 10 ¹² bis 10 ¹⁷ eV were initiated to investigate. This allows models of the hadronic interaction to be checked.

The observatory is located at an altitude of 4410 meters in the mountainous Sichuan Province in southwest China.

The project was approved on December 31, 2015. The first quarter of the installation will go into operation in 2018 ^[obsolete] . The completion of LHAASO is planned for January 2021.

aims

The observatory examines showers of particles that are triggered by photons and charged particles of cosmic radiation in the energy range from 10 ¹¹ to 10 ¹⁸ eV . The observatory will be able to continuously observe the sky in the TeV range for constant and volatile sources of particles with energies from ~ 200 GeV to 1 PeV . This means that for the first time it is possible to carry out observations in the PeV range of cosmic rays. By examining the different components of the radiation, it should be possible to determine the origin, the type of acceleration and the propagation of the radiation by measuring the energy spectrum, the elemental composition and the anisotropy with a previously unattained resolution. This should help to solve open problems in the understanding of galactic cosmic rays .

construction

The observatory consists of an array of detectors distributed in a 1 km ² ring-shaped area (referred to as KM2A). In the center is a detector for Cherenkov radiation (Water Cherenkov Detector Array WCDA).

KM2A is designed to measure the electromagnetic and muonic components of the shower and consists of a grid of 5242 plastic scintillators (15 m apart). Each has an area of one square meter and is covered with a 5 mm thick sheet of lead. Approx. 1146 Cherenkov water tanks are distributed over almost the same area and are set up at a distance of 30 m. Each of them occupies an area of 36 m ² and has a water depth of 1.2 m. The tanks are hidden under a 2.5 m mound of earth. At the top of the tank there is an 8 " photomultiplier .

The WCDA consists of three water ponds with a total area of 78,000 m ² and a water depth of 4.4 m. In these the charged offspring of the shower produce Cherenkov light. The ponds are divided into square cells with an edge length of 5 m, which are separated by plastic curtains. This prevents light from penetrating to the neighboring cells. At the bottom of each cell there is an 8-9 "photomultiplier that picks up the flashes of light.

Web links

Chinese mountain observatory to probe cosmic-ray origins ( nature.com ).
Gamma Ray Astronomy with LHAASO ( iopscience.iop.org PDF).

Individual evidence

↑ G. Di Sciascio, on behalf of the LHAASO Collaboration: The LHAASO experiment: from Gamma-Ray Astronomy to Cosmic Rays . February 24, 2016, arxiv : 1602.07600 .
↑ S. Vernetto, LHAASO Collaboration: Gamma Ray Astronomy with LHAASO . In: Journal of Physics: Conference Series . tape 718 , no. 5 , 2016, ISSN 1742-6596 , p. 052043 , doi : 10.1088 / 1742-6596 / 718/5/052043 .

29.358611111111 100.1375Coordinates: 29 ° 21 ′ 31 ″ N , 100 ° 8 ′ 15 ″ E

[1] G. Di Sciascio, on behalf of the LHAASO Collaboration: The LHAASO experiment: from Gamma-Ray Astronomy to Cosmic Rays . February 24, 2016, arxiv : 1602.07600 .

[2] S. Vernetto, LHAASO Collaboration: Gamma Ray Astronomy with LHAASO . In: Journal of Physics: Conference Series . tape 718 , no. 5 , 2016, ISSN 1742-6596 , p. 052043 , doi : 10.1088 / 1742-6596 / 718/5/052043 .