China launches first detectors aiming to decode cosmic ray origins
By Deng
Xiaoci
The first LHAASO-WFCTA telescope
looking up to the sky.( Photo:Courtesy of IHEP )
China's
Large High Altitude Air Shower Observatory (LHAASO), a cosmic ray detection
facility located in the high mountains of Southwest China’s Sichuan Province,
has recently begun scientific observation of very high energy cosmic rays as it
launched its first set of detectors, the project's chief scientists told the
Global Times on April 26.
The goal
of LHAASO, a basic scientific research project to be completed in 2021, is to
discover high energy gamma ray sources, and precisely measure the radiation
spectrum of very high energy gamma ray sources and energy spectra of various
cosmic ray species over a wide range, according to a press release the
Institute of High Energy Physics (IHEP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences sent
to the Global Times.
The
project is expected to make breakthroughs concerning the origin of cosmic rays,
Cao Zhen, the project’s chief scientist and an astrophysicist with the IHEP,
told the Global Times.
Cao
noted that the origin of cosmic rays “has puzzled the world for over a hundred
years.”
Wang
Yifang, IHEP director, said that astronomical observation “has entered the era
of combining multi-wave length observations and multi-messenger studies
together.” He emphasized that LHAASO would enhance major international
astronomical observation efforts and boost the progress of such research.
LHAASO’s
Phase One detectors include the No. 1 Water Cherenkov Detector Array (WCDA-1)
with an active area of 2.25 hectares, as well as two wide-field Cherenkov
telescopes and 80 muon detectors and 180 electromagnetic detectors.
The full
scale WCDA, which will eventually comprise three ponds, is designed to survey
for gamma ray sources above 100 billion eVs, according to the IHEP.
The
reason why the scientists picked the 4,400 meters above sea level site is
because such a height would enable the facility to receive the richest physics
information in the most effective way, Bai Yunxiang, a member of the research
team, told the Global Times.
Assisted
by the rotation of the Earth, the WCDA will be able to scan over 60 percent of
the sky each day. It won't be affected by the light of the sun, moon or stars
or by the weather, thus ensuring round-the-clock observation. In the future,
the WCDA will be able to record 5 trillion cosmic ray detections each year and
obtain more than 4PB of data.
LHAASO
is one of China's major national science and technology infrastructure projects
and is located in the Mountain Haizi National Reserve at 4,400 meters above sea
level.
Since
detectors are being distributed across a wide area, LHAASO has begun
observation even as construction continues elsewhere on the site, according to
the IHEP.
Source: Global
Times
China launches first detectors aiming to decode cosmic ray origins
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