The surface detector array of the Pierre Auger Observatory consists of 1600 water-Cherenkov detectors, for the study of extensive air showers (EAS) generated by ultra-high-energy cosmic rays. We ...describe the trigger hierarchy, from the identification of candidate showers at the level of a single detector, amongst a large background (mainly random single cosmic ray muons), up to the selection of real events and the rejection of random coincidences. Such trigger makes the surface detector array fully efficient for the detection of EAS with energy above \(3\times 10^{18}\) eV, for all zenith angles between 0\(^\circ\) and 60\(^\circ\), independently of the position of the impact point and of the mass of the primary particle. In these range of energies and angles, the exposure of the surface array can be determined purely on the basis of the geometrical acceptance.
Data collected by the Pierre Auger Observatory through 31 August 2007 showed evidence for anisotropy in the arrival directions of cosmic rays above the Greisen-Zatsepin-Kuz'min energy threshold, ...\nobreak{\(6\times 10^{19}\)eV}. The anisotropy was measured by the fraction of arrival directions that are less than \(3.1^\circ\) from the position of an active galactic nucleus within 75 Mpc (using the Véron-Cetty and Véron \(12^{\rm th}\) catalog). An updated measurement of this fraction is reported here using the arrival directions of cosmic rays recorded above the same energy threshold through 31 December 2009. The number of arrival directions has increased from 27 to 69, allowing a more precise measurement. The correlating fraction is \((38^{+7}_{-6})%\), compared with \(21%\) expected for isotropic cosmic rays. This is down from the early estimate of \((69^{+11}_{-13})%\). The enlarged set of arrival directions is examined also in relation to other populations of nearby extragalactic objects: galaxies in the 2 Microns All Sky Survey and active galactic nuclei detected in hard X-rays by the Swift Burst Alert Telescope. A celestial region around the position of the radiogalaxy Cen A has the largest excess of arrival directions relative to isotropic expectations. The 2-point autocorrelation function is shown for the enlarged set of arrival directions and compared to the isotropic expectation.
The Pierre Auger Observatory is a hybrid detector for ultra-high energy cosmic rays. It combines a surface array to measure secondary particles at ground level together with a fluorescence detector ...to measure the development of air showers in the atmosphere above the array. The fluorescence detector comprises 24 large telescopes specialized for measuring the nitrogen fluorescence caused by charged particles of cosmic ray air showers. In this paper we describe the components of the fluorescence detector including its optical system, the design of the camera, the electronics, and the systems for relative and absolute calibration. We also discuss the operation and the monitoring of the detector. Finally, we evaluate the detector performance and precision of shower reconstructions.
Technical reports on operations and features of the Pierre Auger Observatory, including ongoing and planned enhancements and the status of the future northern hemisphere portion of the Observatory. ...Contributions to the 31st International Cosmic Ray Conference, Lodz, Poland, July 2009.
Studies of the correlations of ultra-high energy cosmic ray directions with extra-Galactic objects, of general anisotropy, of photons and neutrinos, and of other astrophysical effects, with the ...Pierre Auger Observatory. Contributions to the 31st ICRC, Lodz, Poland, July 2009.
Reports on the atmospheric monitoring, calibration, and other operating systems of the Pierre Auger Observatory. Contributions to the 31st International Cosmic Ray Conference, Lodz, Poland, July 2009.
Studies of the composition of the highest energy cosmic rays with the Pierre Auger Observatory, including examination of hadronic physics effects on the structure of extensive air showers. ...Submissions to the 31st ICRC, Lodz, Poland (July 2009).
From direct observations of the longitudinal development of ultra-high energy air showers performed with the Pierre Auger Observatory, upper limits of 3.8%, 2.4%, 3.5% and 11.7% (at 95% c.l.) are ...obtained on the fraction of cosmic-ray photons above 2, 3, 5 and 10 EeV (1 EeV = 10^18 eV) respectively. These are the first experimental limits on ultra-high energy photons at energies below 10 EeV. The results complement previous constraints on top-down models from array data and they reduce systematic uncertainties in the interpretation of shower data in terms of primary flux, nuclear composition and proton-air cross-section.
