The DES Cluster Finder Comparison Meeting

The Center for Cosmology and Astro-Particle Physics (CCAPP) at The Ohio State University (OSU) is holding The DES Cluster Finder Comparison Meeting in Columbus, Ohio on May 22-24. Participation is by invitation only and is sponsored by CCAPP. This meeting will bring together the various groups within the Dark Energy Survey (DES) that are working on developing and/or testing cluster finding algorithms in order to compare the different approaches being currently pursued. Our final goal is to clearly identify and characterize the relative strength and weaknesses of each of the methods, in order to improve the quality of the optical cluster finding techniques that will be available for the DES. View the workshop page here.

GLAST Launch Blog

[NASA will provide] live coverage of the countdown to launch of the Delta II carrying the Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope (GLAST) will begin right here about two hours before liftoff. Follow the countdown milestones on launch day as the exciting final hours before liftoff unfold. Through blog updates and videos, keep track of preparations at the launch pad as the Delta II rocket prepares to carry GLAST into space.

Special Public Lecture

On Monday, March 24, CCAPP will host a special public lecture by Joel R. Primack and Nancy Ellen Abrams: "The View From The Center Of The Universe." Click here to view their homepage.

A New View of the Cosmos is Brewing

Cosmic Quest
Fueled by out-of-this-world curiosity, millions of dollars, and a lot of coffee (see page 8) Ohio State researchers are reaching for the stars.
Click here to view the full PDF article by Pam Frost Gorder from the new issue of the Alumni Magazine.

Auger Observatory Closes in on Long Standing Mystery, Links Highest Energy Cosmic Rays with Violent Black Holes

Scientists of the Pierre Auger Collaboration announced today (8 Nov. 2007) that active galactic nuclei are the most likely candidate for the source of the highest energy cosmic rays that hit Earth. Using the Pierre Auger Observatory in Argentina, the largest cosmic-ray observatory in the world, a team of scientists from 17 countries found that the sources of the highest-energy particles are not distributed uniformly across the sky. Instead, the Auger results link the origins of these mysterious particles to the locations of nearby galaxies that have active nuclei in their centers. The results appear in the Nov. 9 issue of the journal Science.

Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) are thought to be powered by supermassive black holes that are devouring large amounts of matter. They have long been considered sites where high-energy particle production might take place. They swallow gas, dust and other matter from their host galaxies and spew out particles and energy. While most galaxies have black holes at their center, only a fraction of all galaxies have an AGN. The exact mechanism of how AGNs can accelerate particles to energies 100 million times higher than the most powerful particle accelerator on Earth is still a mystery.

OSU faculty member Jim Beatty leads the international team that developed the electronics for the 1600 cosmic ray detectors spread over an area the size of Rhode Island in western Argentina. The OSU Auger team also includes postdoc Brian Baugham and graduate students Chad Morris and Michael Sutherland.

The Economist, Scientific American, and The New York Times have all picked up on the Auger story.

For more details, visit http://www.auger.org and http://www.sciencemag.org

The Ohio State University Center for Cosmology and AstroParticle Physics to Share $20M Exploration of Space Endowment

The Center for Cosmology and AstroParticle Physics (CCAPP), based on a joint proposal with the Department of Astronomy, will share roughly half of a $20M Exploration of Space endowment, to date OSU's second largest gift. CCAPP is an interdisciplinary Center, with members from the Department of Physics and Astronomy, focused on studying the evolution of the Universe and the nature of its highest energy particles. CCAPP's Exploration of Space endowment, along with other things, will go towards funding in perpetuity several long term CCAPP postdoctoral researchers whose research is focused on exploring the Universe.

According to the OSU press release:

The Ohio State University has received a transformational gift of $20 million to support one of the biggest undertakings imaginable: the exploration of outer space. The anonymous gift is the second-largest single gift to the university in its 137-year history. In addition to unprecedented studies of our universe, it will support the mentoring of young minds and major collaborations on promising research projects.

"We always encourage our talented faculty and students to 'reach for the stars,' and this incredible act of generosity will allow them to do just that," said Ohio State President E. Gordon Gee. "This extraordinary gift will make it possible to explore some of the biggest mysteries of our universe, and the discoveries that result will be enormous. They may even help us to understand the very nature of our existence."

For further details, see http://www.osu.edu/news/newsitems1845    and

                                 http://www.mps.ohio-state.edu/?q=space_research