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Session 62 - Workshop on the Future of Antarctic Astrophysics - II.
Topical, Oral session, Wednesday, June 10
Presidio,
It becomes possible to do astronomy with protons and other charged particles at extremely high energy ( > 10^19 eV), when their paths are nearly undeflected over very long length scales. Data accumulated from large cosmic ray experiments give hints that the arrival directions of the highest energy particles indeed tend to cluster in the sky. However, because of the low flux, the statistics are too small at present to draw definitve conclusions. The Pierre Auger Observatory addresses the need for a vastly increased acceptance. Through its large size and complete coverage of the sky, this new facility is designed to provide a definitive search for astrophysical ``point sources'' of cosmic rays. Correlated measurement of angular deflection and energy give information on the magnetic fields between the earth and the source. The target mass of atmosphere above the Observatory is equivalent to more than 10 km^3 of water, thus offering the possibility of neutrino astronomy as well.
