Dark-Sky Utah Lights Up the Astrophysics World
Mia Pinnock on November 4, 2010 in Education Life 
--by John Belz, research associate professor, physics & astronomy
The University of Utah is well known internationally for its particle astrophysics or “cosmic ray” program. Cosmic rays are elementary particles and atomic nuclei that arrive at the Earth from deep space. The high energy cosmic rays that we study here are fairly rare, so rather than try to detect them directly we look for signs of the havoc they create when they strike the atmosphere.
One of the byproducts of a cosmic ray’s collision with the atmosphere is faint trail of ultraviolet light, caused by the fluorescence of nitrogen molecules. One of the things Utah cosmic ray researchers are well known for is developing a detection technique that uses this ultraviolet light. A team, led by Utah physicists George Cassiday and Gene Loh, was the first to make this technique work, at Volcano Ranch, New Mexico, in the 1970′s.
The world’s first full-scale fluorescence observatory was called the Fly’s Eye, was located in Dugway, Utah and was run by a team led by Cassiday, Loh, and Pierre Sokolsky throughout the 1980′s. This was followed by the High-Resolution Fly’s Eye (HiRes) under Sokolsky, Charlie Jui and Gordon Thomson. HiRes transformed the field by showing that there is a limit to the energy cosmic rays can have, in data collected between 1997 and 2006.
A big reason why these fluorescence observatories have succeeded is that Utah has a relatively unique set of atmospheric conditions. In western Utah are some of the few remaining light-pollution free skies in the United States. Western Utah and Nevada also form the Basin and Range province, a North-South running set of mountain ranges and rift valleys. The mountain ranges squeeze moisture out of the prevailing easterly winds, giving Utah an unusually dry and aerosol-free atmosphere. The same geography which skiers have to thank for the “Greatest Snow on Earth” makes Utah an ideal location for a fluorescence observatory to study the Universe’s most energetic particles!
Right now, some of us are looking into applying radar technology to the study of cosmic rays. Like a cop catching speeders on the highway, the idea is we’ll bounce radio waves off of the cosmic ray ion trails to see what the echos can tell us. Again, the remoteness of western Utah makes it ideally suited for looking for these faint echoes without man-made radio interference. And we really hope to do fluorescence one better: you can detect radar signals in broad daylight.
The hunt is on!
Come to Science Night Live Wednesday, November 10 to hear more about cosmic rays and meet John Belz. His talk “Desert Rain: Particle Astrophysics Under Utah Skies” is the science part of the event that starts at 5:30 PM at Keys on Main, 242 So. Main St. in Salt Lake City. Free and open to the public. Must be 21. For full schedule click here.
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