KIT, Karlsruhe
KCETA, Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen
Cosmic ray particles can produce extended air showers that have a total energy of more than 100 EeV, which is a hundred million times more than the TeV particles that we produce in accelerators. How do the cosmic accelerators work? Where are they and what are they accelerating? How do the supposedly extragalactic particles propagate to Earth? Do they offer a new kind of astronomy? The Pierre Auger Observatory is an international project dedicated to find answers to these - and many more - questions. The presentation reviews the goals, achievements and plans for a better understanding of ultra-high energy cosmic rays.
