Speaker
Sander ter Veen
(ASTRON)
Description
The lunar askaryan technique is one of the few ways to obtain a large enough collecting area to detect ultra high energy cosmic rays and neutrinos at the highest end of the spectrum, above 10$^{21}$ eV. The flux of these particles is unknown, but if they are found they either point back to the best cosmic accelerators or may be the products of the decay of exotic particles and a step towards dark matter identification. The large collecting area is especially true for frequencies between 100-200 MHz, where the radiation is spread out over a wider angle and thus more of the lunar surface can be used for a possible detection. The NuMoon project therefore observes the Moon at these frequencies to search for nanosecond pulses. A first project with the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope has placed the most stringent upper limits on the flux of ultra high energy cosmic rays and neutrinos. The next step is to observe with LOFAR, currently the most sensitive low frequency telescope. In this contribution I will present the status and plans of the project.
| Registration number following "ICRC2015-I/" | 0977 |
|---|---|
| Collaboration | -- not specified -- |
Primary author
Sander ter Veen
(ASTRON)
Co-authors
Dr
Anna Nelles
(Radboud University Nijmegen)
Arthur Corstanje
(Radboud University Nijmegen)
Mr
Emilio Enriquez
(Radboud University Nijmegen)
Gia Trinh
(KVI-CART, University of Groningen)
Prof.
Heino Falcke
(Radboud University Nijmegen, ASTRON, MPIfR Bonn)
Dr
Jörg Hörandel
(Radboud University Nijmegen)
Dr
Jörg Rachen
(Radboud University Nijmegen)
Dr
Laura Rosetto
(Radboud University Nijmegen)
Dr
Maaijke Mevius
(ASTRON)
Prof.
Olaf Scholten
(KVI-CART)
Dr
Pim Schellart
(Radboud University Nijmegen)
Satyendra Thoudam
(Radboud University)
Stijn Buitink
(Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB))
Mr
Tijs Karskens
(Radboud University Nijmegen)
