Telescope Array Project: Difference between revisions

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{{Infobox telescope|___location=[[Millard County, Utah]], US}}

The '''Telescope Array project''' is an international collaboration involving research and educational institutions in Japan, The United States, Russia, South Korea, and Belgium.<ref name=Tokuno>{{cite journal|last=Tokuno|first=H.|display-authors=etal |title=New air fluorescence detectors employed in the Telescope Array experiment|journal=Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research A|date=21 February 2012|volume=676|pages=54–65|doi=10.1016/j.nima.2012.02.044|arxiv = 1201.0002 |bibcode = 2012NIMPA.676...54T }}</ref> The experiment is designed to observe air showers induced by [[ultra-high-energy cosmic ray]] using a combination of ground array and air-fluorescence techniques. It is located in the high desert in [[Millard County, Utah|Millard County]], [[Utah]] (USA) at about {{convert|1400|m|ft|sp=us}} above sea level.

==Overview==

[[File:TelescopeArray.svg|left|200px|An illustration of Telescope Array. Three fluorescence telescopes observe the ultraviolet light given off by an air shower, while an array of surface detectors register the particles as they strike the ground.]]

The Telescope Array observatory is a hybrid detector system consisting of both an array of 507 scintillation surface detectors (SD) which measure the distribution of charged particles at the Earth's surface, and three fluorescence stations which observe the night sky above the SD array.<ref name="AbuZayyad2012">T. AbuZayyad et al., "[http://www.telescopearray.org/media/TA_papers/1-s2.0-S0168900212005931-main.pdf The surface detector array of the Telescope Array experiment]" Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: (2012) vol. 689</ref> Each fluorescence station is also accompanied by a LIDAR system for atmospheric monitoring.<ref name="chikawaICRC">M. Chikawa et al., Proceedings of 29th [[International Cosmic Ray Conference|ICRC]] (2005) 137</ref> The SD array is much like that of the [[AGASA]] group, but covers an area that is nine times larger. The hybrid setup of the Telescope Array project allows for simultaneous observation of both the longitudinal development and the lateral distribution of the air showers. When a cosmic ray passes through the earth's atmosphere and triggers an [[Air shower (physics)|air shower]], the fluorescence telescopes measure the scintillation light generated as the shower passes through the gas of the atmosphere, while the array of scintillator surface detectors samples the footprint of the shower when it reaches the Earth's surface.

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==Surface detector==

[[File:SurfaceDetection.svg|right|200px|A Scintillator Surface Detector from Telescope Array]]

The surface detectors that make up the ground array are activated when ionizing particles from an extensive air shower pass through them. When these particles pass through the plastic scintillator within the detector, it induces photo electrons which are then gathered by wavelength-shifting fibers and sent to a photomultiplier tube. The electronic components within the detectors then filter the results, giving the detectors comparable accuracy to the AGASA experiment.<ref name=Kawai2008>{{cite journal|last=Kawai|first=H|display-authors=etal |title=Telescope Array Experiment|journal=Nuclear Physics B: Proceedings Supplements|date=2008|pages=220–226|doi=10.1016/j.nuclphysbps.2007.11.002|bibcode = 2008NuPhS.175..221K }}</ref>