China's Large High Altitude Air Shower Observatory (LHAASO), which has the highest altitude, the largest scale and the strongest sensitivity of the world's gamma-ray detection facilities, has passed national acceptance inspection.
The observation station was jointly built by the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), the government of Southwest China's Sichuan Province and Power Construction Corporation of China (POWERCHINA) who shared in its design and construction. It is expected to become an international cosmic ray research center involving China and many other countries.
Cosmic rays are high-energy particles found throughout the cosmos and are dubbed "messengers" as they are an important way for human beings to explore the universe.
A bird's-eye view of the water Cherenkov detector array of China's Large High Altitude Air Shower Observatory (LHAASO) in Southwest China's Sichuan Province [Photo/sasac.gov.cn]
Located in Sichuan's Daocheng County with an average altitude of 4,410 meters, LHAASO is a key national science and technology infrastructure focusing on cosmic ray observation and research.
It includes electromagnetic particle detectors, muon detectors, a water Cherenkov detector array and a wide-field-of-view Cherenkov telescopes.
The water Cherenkov detector array occupies an area of nearly 80,000 square meters, making it the largest artificial water detector in the world. It consists of three horizontal ultra-large photon solar-avoidance pools with pure water volume of 350,000 metric tons, equaling the volume of 190 standard pools.
Completed in early 2022, it is the core and the main structure of the observation station.
LHAASO has discovered a large amount of ultra-high-energy cosmic accelerators and captured the brightest gamma ray burst.
(Executive editor: Xie Yunxiao)
