LOPES (telescope)
2376297
143710176
2007-07-10T12:01:07Z
Dr. Submillimeter
1652275
/* External links */ Changed category
The '''LOPES project''' ([[LOFAR]] PrototypE Station) is a [[cosmic ray]] detector array, located in [[Karlsruhe]], Germany, and is operated in coincidence with an existing, well calibrated air shower experiment called [[KASCADE]].
There are different ways to observe [[cosmic ray]]s, or, more accurately, the [[Air shower (physics)|air showers]] that cosmic rays produce when they enter our [[Earth's atmosphere|atmosphere]]. Traditionally, one directly measures the shower products that make it all the way to the surface. These may be detected by using for example particle counters. In the case of KASCADE, the muons in the shower produce a short flash of [[Cherenkov radiation|Cherenkov light]] when they traverse a slab of scintillator material. These flashes can be registered using [[photomultiplier]]s.
The LOPES project aims to demonstrate the feasibility of a different technique, in which not the shower products themselves are observed, but secondary radio radiation that is generated by the shower. Charged particles in the shower, mostly [[electron]]s and [[positron]]s, are deflected slightly in [[Earth's magnetic field]]. As these particles change direction, they emit [[synchrotron radiation]]. This radiation is visible as a bright flash on the sky for several nanoseconds at frequencies up to a few hundred MHz. It is hoped that the LOPES project will pave the way for more cosmic ray experiments with digital radio telescopes, such as [[LOFAR]].
In the first phase until 2003, LOPES consisted of ten [[dipole antenna]]s. This has been expanded to a total number of 30 antennas as of summer 2005. These antennas are read out digitally and are connected to a central computer. Here, the data from the antennas is correlated by software, so that the antennas together essentially form a [[phased array]]. The software can point the array by forming a virtual beam and is also able to adaptively suppress interference from other sources, such as radio and tv stations.
The test array was first set up at the MPIfR in Bonn to check the hardware and develop the software. Afterwards it has been installed at the KASCADE experiment in Karlsruhe. This is a running and well calibrated air shower experiment, which provides LOPES with a suitable [[trigger (particle physics)|trigger]] and reconstructed shower parameters. These parameters will act as a starting point for LOPES and will be used to calibrate its results.
LOPES is a collaboration of [[ASTRON]] (Netherlands Foundation for Research in Astronomy, [[Dwingeloo]], The Netherlands), the Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie (Bonn, Germany), [[Radboud University Nijmegen|Radboud University]] (Nijmegen, The Netherlands), the Institute of Data Processing and Electronics (IPE) and the Institut für Kernphysik (IK), both at Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe (Karlsruhe, Germany), and the KASCADE-Grande collaboration. The KASCADE-Grande collaboration consists of groups from Germany, Poland, Romania, and Italy.
== References ==
*Falcke et al. 2005, Nature, May 19 issue, "Detection and localization of atmospheric radio flashes from cosmic ray air showers"; preprint [http://lanl.arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0505383 astro-ph/0505383]
* H. Falcke , P. Gorham, R.J. Protheroe, New Astron.Rev. 48 (2004) 1487-1510, "Prospects for radio detection of ultra-high energy cosmic rays and neutrinos"; preprint: [http://lanl.arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0409229 astro-ph/0409229]
==External links==
*[http://www.astro.ru.nl/lopes Official LOPES project homepage (RU Nijmegen, NL)]
*[http://www.lofar.org/ Official LOFAR project homepage]
*[http://www-ik.fzk.de/KASCADE_home.html The KASCADE-Grande Experiment at Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe]
{{coor title dms|49|05|57.8|N|8|26|14.7|E|region:CH_type:landmark}}
[[Category:Radio telescopes]]
[[Category:Interferometric telescopes]]