Astrophysics

SNAP (SuperNova/ Acceleration Probe) is a satellite experiment designed to verify the remarkable cosmological discovery that the Universal expansion is accelerating, and to determine the nature and evolution of the “dark energy” driving this acceleration. Recent measurements carried out by the Supernova Cosmology Project (SCP) and the High-Z Supernova team have made the startling discovery that the expansion of the universe is accelerating.

CREST is a balloon-borne instrument designed to measure the cosmic ray electron spectrum over an energy range in which the effect of the spatial distribution of local sources is expected to cause dramatic departures from a power law energy spectrum. The instrument identifies UHE electrons through observation of the characteristic linear trail of synchrotron gamma rays generated as the electron passes through the Earth’s magnetic field.