April 24, 2008

Prof. G. Matthiae

Spokesperson

The Pierre Auger Collaboration

Malargüe – Argentina

To: ………………………..

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Subject: Invitation to the Auger South Inaugural Celebration in Malargüe (Argentina).

Dear Sir/Madam …………………….,

On behalf of the Pierre Auger Collaboration, I have the great honour to invite you to participate in the Pierre Auger Observatory Inauguration Ceremony that will take place in Malargüe (Province of Mendoza, Argentina) on November the 14^th-15^th, 2008.

The Ceremony celebrates the completion of the construction of the first phase of the Southern Observatory and the beginning of the second phase (Northern site planned in Colorado, USA and enhancements in the Southern Site). The Pierre Auger Observatory is devoted to the study of Cosmic Rays at the highest energies. The Pierre Auger Collaboration has already obtained very significant scientific results. Let me simply mention among the first scientific results the correlation between the arrival direction of the highest cosmic rays and some extragalactic objects identified as Active Galactic Nuclei. A scientific paper has been published in the journal Science in November 2007 and it has been reported in the scientific literature as the top result in Physics in the year 2007. This has been a great reward for the 350 PhD physicists from 15 different countries involved in the project. The possibility to point to extragalactic sources with cosmic rays opens a completely new chapter in astronomy, namely charged particle astronomy.

All colleagues in charge of the various financing agencies will be invited to participate in the Ceremony. The Vice-President of Argentina has promised to participate in the event.

Your participation in the inauguration ceremony will be highly appreciated as we all stress the importance of fundamental scientific research for a modern and progressive country.

Sincerely yours,

………………………………………………….

Prof. G. Matthiae

Spokesperson

The Pierre Auger Collaboration