COSMIC RAYS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIII, Issue 121, 24 May 1932, Page 8

COSMIC RAYS.

OBSERVATION IN AUSTRALIA, c SIMILARITY OF INTENSITY. PROFESSOR COMPTON RETURN'S. Dr. A. H. Compton, Professor of Physics at the University of Chicago, t who recently took observations on Mount b Cook in pursuance of his study of cosmic j rays, returned by the Zealandia from j q Australia this morning, after having made observations at Sydney, Brisbane, Mount Kosciusko, Cooma and Guyia. The altitude at which he worked at j, Mount Kosciusko was 7300 ft, and at Guyra 4300 ft. _ ■. "Our measurements in Australia gave results very similar to those in New t Zealand," said Dr. Compton. "That was £ not exactly what we anticipated. The higher the altitude the more intense the radiation. "We found that to be true in j Australia and New Zealand for corres- 11 ponding elevations. We had found pre- c viously that the intensity r>f the rays j near the equator was considerably less than in New Zealand. We are somewhat at a loss to explain this. Our object, however, is not to seek the explanation J immediately. We are collecting data 1 which will have to be examined from this - and seven other expeditions before a statement will be made regarding their interpretation." Dr. Compton said he would remain in the Dominion for a few days, and while here would make some observations at the University. He would go from here to Panama, and then to Peru "for really high altitudes." He anticipated making observations there at a height of 18,000 feet. His headquarters would be at Huancayo. From there he would go on to Mexico, and would return to Chicago in September. The whole of the data which was being collected would be completed in about eight or ten months. | "Measurements taken at different heights enable us to analyse the rays," said Dr. Compton. He declined to make any comment on why the intensity differed at the same altitude at various places. All he was concerned about at the moment was the taking of measure-