With the knowledge and statistical precision derived from two decades of measurement, the Pierre Auger Observatory has significantly deepened our understanding of ultra-high-energy cosmic rays while unearthing an increasingly complex astrophysical landscape and exposing tensions with hadronic interaction models. The field now demands the mass of individual cosmic-ray primaries as an observable with an exposure that only the 3000-square-kilometer surface array of the Observatory can provide. Access to the primary mass hinges on the disentanglement of the electromagnetic and muonic components of extensive air showers. To achieve this, scintillator and radio detectors have been installed atop each existing water-Cherenkov detector of the surface array, whose dynamic range has also been enhanced through the installation of small-area PMTs. Additionally, the timing and signal resolution of all detector stations have been improved through upgraded station electronics, and underground muon counters have been installed in a region of the array with denser spacing. As the commissioning of the final components of AugerPrime reaches its conclusion and the enhanced array comes fully online, we present the realization of its design, its performance, and the first results from this now multi-hybrid observatory.
Ultra-high-energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) are studied with giant ground-based detector systems recording extensive air showers, induced by cosmic ray particles in the atmosphere. Research at the Pierre Auger Observatory - the largest of such detectors ever built -- largely contributed to a number of breakthroughs and dramatically advanced our understanding of UHECRs. Nonetheless, the results so far are still inconclusive as neither have the sources of these most energetic particles known in the Universe been determined, nor has the origin of the unambiguously established cosmic ray flux suppressi…
The world largest exposure to ultra-high energy cosmic rays accumulated by the Pierre Auger Observatory led to major advances in our understanding of their properties, but the many unknowns about the nature and distribution of the sources, the primary composition and the underlying hadronic interactions prevent the emergence of a uniquely consistent picture. The new perspectives opened by the current results call for an upgrade of the Observatory, whose main aim is the collection of new information about the primary mass of the highest energy cosmic rays on a shower-by-shower basis. The evalua…
Ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) arrive at Earth from the most energetic astrophysical accelerators in the universe. They collide with atoms in the upper atmosphere with energies about ten times higher than any man-made accelerator, and produce gigantic cascades of secondary particles, called extensive air showers (EAS). Extensive air showers can be detected spreading particle detectors over a large area to record the interactions of secondary particles. The Pierre Auger Observatory has been designed to investigate the origin and nature of UHECRs using the combination of information from …
KM3NeT is a research infrastructure in construction under the Mediterranean Sea. It hosts two large volume neutrino Cherenkov telescopes: ARCA at a depth of 3500 m, located offshore Sicily, and ORCA, 2500 m under the sea level, offshore the southern French coast. The two detectors share the same detection principle and technology and the same data acquisition design, the only difference being the geometrical arrangement of the optical sensors. This allows to span a wide range of neutrino energy and cover a large scientific program: the study of neutrino properties, first of all neutrino mass o…
The Large-Sized Telescopes (LSTs) of Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) are designed for gamma-ray studies focusing on low energy threshold, high flux sensitivity, rapid telescope repositioning speed and a large field of view. Once the CTA array is complete, the LSTs will be dominating the CTA performance between 20 GeV and 150 GeV. During most of the CTA Observatory construction phase, however, the LSTs will be dominating the array performance until several TeVs. In this presentation we report on the status of the LST-1 telescope inaugurated in La Palma, Canary islands, Spain in 2018. We show th…
MagAO-X is an entirely new "extreme" adaptive optics system for the Magellan Clay 6.5 m telescope, funded by the NSF MRI program starting in Sep 2016. The key science goal of MagAO-X is high-contrast imaging of accreting protoplanets at H$α$. With 2040 actuators operating at up to 3630 Hz, MagAO-X will deliver high Strehls (>70%), high resolution (19 mas), and high contrast ($< 1\times10^{-4}$) at H$α$ (656 nm). We present an overview of the MagAO-X system, review the system design, and discuss the current project status.
FACT - The First G-APD Cherenkov Telescope: Status and Results
第一台G-APD切伦科夫望远镜（FACT）是第一台使用硅光子探测器（G-APD又名。SiPM）。它建在HEGRA CT 3望远镜的底座上，该望远镜仍位于Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos，自2011年10月以来一直在成功运行。与光电倍增管相比，硅器件具有更高的光子探测效率、更强的鲁棒性和更高的精度。FACT合作正在研究这些设备可以长期运行的精度。目前，该望远镜已成功地从远程操作，机器人操作正在开发中。在过去几个月的运行中，已经进行了已知最亮TeV耀变体的预期监测计划，并获得了第一批物理结果，包括Mrk 501的强烈耀斑。瞬时耀斑警报系统已经处于测试阶段。本报告将概述该项目，并总结其目标，状态和初步成果。
The Vista Variables in the Via Lactea (VVV) ESO Public Survey: Current Status and First Results
Via Lactea中的Vista Variables（VVV）是ESO的一项公共调查，正在使用ESO的可见光和红外天文学调查望远镜（VISTA）对银河系隆起和部分内盘进行可变性调查。这次巡天覆盖了ZYJHK_S滤光片中520度^2的天区，总观测时间为1929小时，包括~ 10^9个点源和估计~ 10^6颗变星。在这里，我们描述的VVV调查的现状，除了各种新的结果的基础上VVV数据，包括光变曲线的变星，新发现的球状星团，疏散星团，和协会。本文还介绍了一套基于ZYJHK_S系统的无红化指标。最后，我们提供了一个概述的VVV模板项目，其主要目标是获得定义良好的光变曲线模板在近红外，自动分类的VVV光变曲线。
