Abstract
A GROUP of scientific workers from the Lebedev Institute of Physics, Moscow, has left for the Pamirs to study the composition of cosmic rays at high altitudes. The expedition is under the direction of Prof. Skobeltsyn, of the U.S.S.R. Academy of Sciences, and will continue studies that have been carried on for several years on Mt. Elbrus by workers from the Atomic Nucleus Laboratory. The main object of the expedition is to determine the part played by heavy particles and secondary mesons first discovered in the study of cosmic radiations in 1937. Cosmic radiations have two sharply defined components—a hard component consisting of mesons possessing great energy and a soft component including positrons and electrons. It is known that the soft component, at any rate at sea-level, is genetically connected with the hard component, being apparently generated by the latter. At great altitudes the presence of an unbalanced component has been discovered, namely, radiation that is not directly connected with the hard component. The study of cosmic radiations at great heights is therefore of great importance for the understanding of cosmic radiations as a whole. The question of secondary mesotrons and other strongly ionized agents causing ionization impulses is of great interest. The problem of the generation of secondary mesotrons has gained in significance in recent times.
Article PDF
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Cosmic Ray Studies in the Pamirs. Nature 155, 325–326 (1945). https://doi.org/10.1038/155325e0
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/155325e0