Abstract

VILLASENOR, L. Ultra high energy cosmic rays: present status and recent results. Rev. mex. fis. [online]. 2007, vol.53, suppl.4, pp.173-179. ISSN 0035-001X.

Cosmic rays with energies above 10²⁰ eV are the highest-energy particles ever observed in the Universe. Their flux is so small that up to now only about two dozen such particles have been detected by past and present observatories. Their nature, the location of their sources and the mechanisms by which they are produced or accelerated constitute still a mystery worth of investigating by gathering much higher statistical samples of such events. The Pierre Auger Observatory is a large-area hybrid detector that is under construction to study such ultra high energy cosmic rays. At present the southern site is near completion and it already constitutes the largest scientific observatory ever built to study cosmic rays. In this paper we describe the latest status of ultra high energy cosmic ray research with an emphasis on the Pierre Auger Observatory.

Keywords : Cosmic rays.

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