Observatorio Pierre Auger: motivacion y estado actual

A.C. ROVERO, A. ETCHEGOYEN Y B. GARCIA

San Juan, Argentina

Congreso; 47a Reunion anuan de la Asociacion Argentina de Astronomia; 2004

The Pierre Auger Observatory is aiming to understand the origin, nature and acceleration mechanisms of the most energetic cosmic rays (E >10^18 eV). It will consist of one hybrid detector in each hemisphere, giving a total acceptance of 14200 km^2 sr. The southern observatory is being constructed in Malargüe, Mendoza, Argentina, and will be finished in 2006. No final statement can be made so far about any feature in the most energetic part of the spectrum. However, good candidate events were observed to have a primary energyof about 10^20 eV.