Sep 27 2013
On September 25, 2013 the 2nd International Cosmic Day took place: an international event on astroparticle physics, targeted at high-school students. The International Cosmic Day was initiated by DESY and Netzwerk Teilchenwelt in Germany as well as by Fermilab with its student outreach project QuarkNet in the U.S. On that day, students from all over the world have measured particles that are produced in space and that carry information about the structure and origin of the universe to us.
In Germany, apart from the two DESY sites in Hamburg and Zeuthen the universities in Münster and Wuppertal joined with own groups. The students became astroparticle physicists for one day: they measured cosmic particles themselves and got to know the exciting research field of messengers from space.
The day focused on questions like: What are cosmic particles? Where do they come from? How can they be measured? For the measurement and data analysis, the students were supported by scientists on site. At the end of the day the participants presented their results for discussion and comparison with other groups worldwide - like in an international research project.
This year students from Germany, England, France, Georgia, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Romania, Russia, Spain, The Netherlands, Ukraine, and the USA participated at the International Cosmic Day. The contributing institutes and universities of the International Cosmic Day 2013 can be found at http://www.cern.ch/icd2013.
Source: http://www.desy.de/