Farmers & Ranchers & Astrophysics

In 2008, the world's largest array for detecting ultra-high energy cosmic rays -- the most energetic particles in the universe -- was completed in Argentina by the Pierre Auger Observatory. Now the Observatory is hoping to build a new array in the northern hemisphere: a tremendous undertaking. To be based in Colorado, the array would consist of a network of 4400 tanks, each 12 feet in diameter, placed 1.4 miles apart to cover 8,000 square miles (20,000 square kilometers). “As far as size goes, it’s really amazing,” says Angela Olinto, an astrophysicist who is part of that consortium, as well as a member of the Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics. “You have to drive for hours to cross from one side to the other.” Size, however, is only one key to its success; the network of tanks will also crisscross farms and ranches. This means scientists need more than ingenuity; also important is recruiting communities -- including farmers and ranchers more interested in agriculture than astrophysics -- to become partners in exploring the sky. In Colorado, along with organizing and participating in a range of community meetings, scientists have set up tanks at community centers around southeastern Colorado so farmers and ranchers could actually see what the scientists plan to build. This way “they can kick it and they can see that it is smooth and it won’t hurt their livestock,” says John Harton, an Auger Observatory scientist at Colorado State University who serves as a liaison with the local community...read more