Abstract
The research horizons of the Pierre Auger Cosmic-Ray Observatory widened when the collaboration found exotic (atmospheric) phenomena in both its Fluorescence Detector (FD) and Surface Detector (SD). The Cosmology and Geophysics task force of the Auger Collaboration focused some of its attention on these highly energetic events, which are correlated to some of the most intense convective thunderstorm systems in the world. In this proceeding, we compare the signal of these exotic events and the signal of cosmic rays, as seen in the FD and the SD. The FD has triggered on numerous transient luminous events, dubbed “elves" since their first observation in 2005. The SD observed peculiar events with radially expanding footprints, which are correlated with lightning strikes reconstructed by the World Wide Lightning Location Network (WWLLN). The traced signals of both of these atmospheric events last longer in time than cosmic ray signals. The footprints are much larger; typically more SD stations (or more FD pixels) contribute to the observations.
Highlights
The primary focus of the Auger Observatory is to record the air showers produced by cosmic rays and reconstruct the direction, energy, and type of the primary particles [1]
To detect these air showers, the observatory uses a hybrid design consisting of a Surface Detector (SD) [2] and a Fluorescence Detector (FD) [3]
The Auger FD has 24 telescopes distributed among four different sites; each site has an azimuthal field of view (FoV) of 180◦
Summary
The primary focus of the Auger Observatory is to record the air showers produced by cosmic rays and reconstruct the direction, energy, and type of the primary particles [1]. To detect these air showers, the observatory uses a hybrid design consisting of a Surface Detector (SD) [2] and a Fluorescence Detector (FD) [3]. The time resolution of each station is 25 ns. The duty cycle of the SD is almost 100%, making it the statistical engine of the observatory at the highest energies of the cosmic-ray spectrum Both detectors have three levels of triggering algorithms. TLT algorithms specific to those events have been designed and optimized to improve the acquisition of events related to atmospheric electricity
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