An observatory for detecting cosmic rays in southwest China's Sichuan Province will be semi-functional next year, scientists said on June 20.

The project, known as the Large High Altitude Air Shower Observatory (LHAASO), is located in the mountains of the eastern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau at an altitude of about 4,100 meters.

The project was approved in 2015 by China's state economic planners with a budget of 1.2 billion yuan (around $186 million), and construction began in July 2016.

Aerial photo taken on June 19, 2018 shows the Water Cherenkov Detector in the Large High Altitude Air Shower Observatory (LHAASO) under construction in Daocheng County, southwest China's Sichuan Province. The detector is part of an observatory for detecting cosmic rays being built in Sichuan Province. The project, known as the LHAASO, is located in the mountains of the eastern part of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau at about 4,100 meters. [Image from news.cn]

It is estimated that a quarter of the project will be completed by the end of 2018 and will be functional in early 2019, said the project’s chief scientist, Cao Zhen of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

"Upon completion, it is expected to be the world's largest observatory for detecting cosmic rays," he said.

"With a size equivalent to 200 standard soccer fields, LHAASO features thousands of detectors that will probe cosmic rays and provide statistics for us to analyze," said Cao.

Cosmic rays are highly penetrative rays from outer space. Their collisions with atmospheric particles create a variety of different particles, including neutrons, mesons and hyperons.

Detection of ray showers will lead to pinpointing the sources of the rays which will help decode the origins of the universe and increase understanding of solar activity and Earth's space environment, said Cao.

The project is expected to be completed by June 2021.

Source: Xinhua