WISRD Research & Engineering Journal

Preparations for the Detection of Radio Waves Created by High-Energy Cosmic Rays using

the WISRD Cosmic Ray Detector L. Perttula, R. Cortez, S. Zohar, J. Reis, J. A. Wise

1. Introduction Cosmic rays reach the Earth’s surface at a rate of 1 per square centimeter per minute. These cosmic rays interact with the upper atmosphere of the Earth to produce a shower of secondary particles that can be detected by a scintillation detector. WISRD is using its cosmic ray detector in conjunction with its radio telescopes to investigate reported radio waves spawned by incident

“cosmic ray events. 2. Background

Cosmic rays are extremely high-energy particles that are observed from earth as usually being caused by solar flares from our Sun, they can also be caused by other high-energy events from solar bodies outside our solar system. The later cosmic rays are called Galactic cosmic radiation and come from the remnants of supernovas, powerful explosions that occur during the last stages of the life cycle of massive stars, defined as stars at least eight times larger than the Sun. When these high-energy particles hit our atmosphere, they interact to form a “spray” of particles (Fig.1). Among these secondary particles are short-lived positive or negative pi mesons that decay into positive or negative muons which are detected when they pass through our cosmic ray detectors.

Figure 1 . Diagram of a cosmic ray splitting apart in the atmosphere by radioactivity.eu.com.

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