Presentation description

Cosmic Rays are high-energy particles that originate in outer space and, in some instances reach the Earth. We used detectors that work by converting these high-energy particles into visible light that a photomultiplier tube then amplifies into a digital signal. Our research aims to help contribute and gather the most accurate and efficient data without any variables and will serve as a basis for data collection of cosmic rays. We used scintillator detectors to gather data in a region where the nights were longer to compare the moon over and under the horizon. We analyzed the moon for two weeks in two different years to isolate the moon as the sole variable affecting detection. We plotted our data as event rate versus time; event rate measures how many cosmic ray showers get detected per second. We found that in the 2021 plot, the average for the moon over the horizon is 0.33 events per second, while the average of the moon under the horizon is 0.35 seconds, for a difference of 5.8%. In 2022, the moon over the horizon average is 0.28 events per second and the moon under horizon average is 0.33 events per second, for a difference of 16%. The results of our research indicate that there is a slight decrease in the average of when the moon is above the horizon. This difference is more apparent in the 2022 plot, where the difference was 16%, as opposed to the 2021 plot, where the difference was 5.8%. Although there is a slight contrast between the moon over and under the horizon, we cannot fully conclude that the moon affects cosmic ray detection. To enhance our findings we decided to explore further into the direction the Cosmic Rays are coming in and being detected, which will narrow down the plane in which the moon covers. To further the significance of our results, we will analyze a different location with both azimuth and zenith so we can narrow down our findings to be precise.