Numbers: Pierre Auger Observatory

11/01/05

By David Harris

In November, the Pierre Auger Observatory outside Malargüe, Argentina, celebrates its scientific launch. The observatory will record high-energy cosmic-ray showers with ground-based water tank detectors and air-shower cameras.

Numbers: Pierre Auger Observatory
In November, the Pierre Auger Observatory outside Malargüe, Argentina, celebrates its scientific launch. The observatory will record high-energy cosmic-ray showers with ground-based water tank detectors and air-shower cameras.




Photos: Pierre Auger Observatory

3000

Detector area in square kilometers

a

30

Number of times Paris would fit
within detector area

1400

Meters above sea level

b

739

Current number of water tanks

1600

Eventual number of tanks

c

11,000

Liters of water per tank

1500

Meters between water tanks

20

Years of expected lifetime for tanks

3

Current air observation cameras

d

440

Photomultiplier tubes per camera

e

1500

Events per day recorded

140

Highest energy of a recorded event
in EeV (exa-electronvolts = 10¹⁸eV)

100

Speed in miles/hour of tennis ball
with equivalent energy

15

Countries participating

1938

Year Pierre Auger discovered
cosmic ray showers

20,000

Population of Malargüe

927

Argentina's average human
population per detector area

81

Argentina's average llama
population per detector area

David Harris

Click here to download the pdf version of this article.

popular on symmetry

Coffee mug with equations on it

07/28/16

The deconstructed Standard Model equation

The Standard Model is far more than elementary particles arranged in a table.

Illustration representing properties of light

06/29/21

What is a photon?

The fundamental particle of light is both ordinary and full of surprises.

The Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument imaging the night sky in 2022

11/20/24

New DESI results weigh in on gravity

Researchers used the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument to map how nearly 6 million galaxies cluster across 11 billion years of cosmic history.

Illustration of Higgs boson w/question mark shadow and tiny scientists

06/30/22

Four things physicists still wonder about the Higgs boson

Scientists have learned a lot about the Higgs boson in the decade since they discovered it. But intriguing questions remain.

more on topic

03/05/13

Gamma cameras see through dense tissue

Gamma rays, valued by astrophysicists for conveying information about phenomena in space, are also becoming valued by doctors for their ability to uncover cancer.

02/15/13

Cosmic rays born in supernova aftermath

One hundred years after the discovery of cosmic rays, a team of particle astrophysicists has definitively determined one source of these abundant yet enigmatic particles.

11/27/12

Stellar black widows entrap companion stars

Of the hundreds of objects in the universe emitting gamma rays, two look to be "black widows," ancient stars extending their lives by sucking in material from companion stars.

11/21/12

Cosmic rays

Enrico Fermi's notebook of December 1948 contains four pages that represent the genesis of his theory of cosmic rays, particles that can hit the Earth's atmosphere at high speeds.

11/07/12

Social scientists: Far-flung physicists meet face-to-face

A tidal wave of gamma-ray scientists swept into Monterey, California, for the Fourth International Fermi Symposium, and despite the idyllic photo of a lovely local beach that graced the event poste

11/01/12

Fermi telescope gazes through fog to count the stars

A recent measurement of how many gamma rays make it through a cosmic “fog” of starlight reveals just how many stars there are in the universe.

09/10/12

Scientists already planning for LHC long shutdown

Next year, scientific collaborations will take full advantage of the Large Hadron Collider's time without beam.

08/27/12

Pierre Auger Observatory tests particle knowledge beyond reach of LHC

View full archive