Interactive exhibit
Models and detectors.
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The Pierre Auger Observatory is an international science project in Malargüe involving some four hundred scientists from about ninety institutions in seventeen countries, to detect cosmic rays: particles arriving from space at enormous energies, whose source and how they reach such speeds remain unknown; when they hit the atmosphere they set off «showers» of particles. The site was chosen because the Pampa Amarilla plain is broad, high and clear-skied, so about 1,600 water-tank detectors are spread over some three thousand square kilometres, seen scattered beside the roads, with 24 special telescopes in four buildings watching the faint glow of the showers on dark nights. In town, a free visitor centre has an interactive exhibition with models, films and live detectors that explains the experiment simply. Visits run daily in morning and afternoon sessions, booked ahead on the official website.
Models and detectors.
Beside the roads.
Open science.
Avenida San Martín 304 Norte, Malargüe, Mendoza
Yes. The visitor centre in Malargüe is free, booked ahead in two daily sessions.