550 students, 47 schools, and millions of cosmic tracks analyzed: these are the figures describing the International Cosmic Day event held on Thursday, November 30, as part of the Extreme Energy Events (EEE) Project.
This initiative, entirely dedicated to cosmic rays, is organized annually by the DESY research laboratory.
This year, Centro Ricerche Enrico Fermi joined the ICD, involving around 50 schools participating in the EEE Project: hundreds of students met at local universities, research institutes, or schools in their area, spending the day discussing cosmic rays, analyzing data from EEE telescopes, and presenting their results internationally in collaboration with other schools participating in the ICD.
Using the same videoconferencing systems employed by the scientific community, the students attended a short seminar in the morning on cosmic radiation and an introduction to experimental data analysis delivered by two researchers involved in the EEE Project. Afterwards, with the support of local EEE researchers, they carried out a data analysis activity on their own computers, aimed at extracting the angular distribution of cosmic muons detected by the EEE telescopes. At the end of the analysis, students participated in a discussion and presentation session with other ICD participants, during which they clearly and concisely presented the results of their work. The day also featured lively discussions and questions inspired by the curiosity of these young “researchers.”
Prof. A. Zichichi, founder of the EEE Project, addressed the ICD participants with a short message emphasizing the importance of studying cosmic rays and encouraging students to become “ambassadors of science”.
The complete list of schools that officially took part in the ICD is provided below:
ITIS P.Levi di Quartu Sant’Elena (CA)
Liceo Scientifico Bafile (L’Aquila)
ITIS A.D’Aosta (L’Aquila)
IIS Alessandrini Marino Forti (Teramo)
Liceo Scientifico Galilei (Lanciano)
Liceo Scientifico Pasolini (Potenza)
Liceo Scientifico Da Procida (Salerno)
Liceo Statale Regina Margherita (Salerno)
Liceo Scientifico Mancini (Avellino)
Liceo Classico Rinaldini (Ancona)
Liceo Scientifico Galilei (Ancona)
Liceo Scientifico Fermi (Bologna)
Liceo Classico Galvani (Bologna)
Liceo Scientifico Scorza (Cosenza)
Liceo Scientifico Marconi (Parma)
IIS Nobili (Reggio Emilia)
Liceo Statale Serpieri (Rimini)
Liceo Scientifico Respighi (Piacenza)
Liceo Scientifico Gandini (Lodi)
IIS Beretta (Gardone V.T. BS)
Liceo Scientifico Cavalleri (Parabiago MI)
Liceo Scientifico OSA Maserati (Voghera PV)
ITIS Ferraris Pancaldo (Savona)
ITIS Volta (Lodi)
Liceo Statale Novello (Codogno LO)
IIS Antonietti (Iseo BS)
Liceo Vittorio Veneto (Milano)
Liceo Classico D’Azeglio (Torino)
IIS Einstein (Torino)
Liceo Gobetti Segrè (Torino)
Liceo Giolitti Gandino (Bra CN)
Liceo Amaldi (Bitetto BA)
Liceo Cagnazzi (Altamura BA)
Liceo Scientifico Scacchi (Bari)
IISS Staffa (Trinitapoli BA)
ITIS Galileo Galilei (Altamura)
Liceo Scientifico Marconi (Foggia)
Liceo Scientifico Banzi Bazoli (Lecce)
Liceo Classico Palmieri (Lecce)
ITIS Fermi (Lecce)
Liceo Scientifico Da Vinci (Maglie LE)
Liceo Scientifico Alberti (Cagliari)
Liceo Scientifico Michelangelo (Cagliari)
Liceo Scientifico Pacinotti (Cagliari)
ITIS Cannizzaro (Catania)
Liceo Scientifico Fermi (Paternò CT)
Liceo Scientifico Fardella (Trapani)
IISIT Marconi (Catania)
In addition to the schools listed, several other institutions followed the activities organized by Centro Fermi directly from their own premises.