Researchers are preparing to use muography, or cosmic-ray muon detection, to look inside El Castillo at Chichén Itzá. The Maya pyramid was built in stages between about AD 800 and 1200 over earlier structures. The team will first test the method against two known chambers identified in the 1930s, then search for hidden spaces. Because denser material attenuates muons more strongly, the technique can map the pyramid's interior without excavation.
Planned muography scan of El Castillo pyramid seeks hidden chambers
MexicoRemote Sensing
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Key facts
- Researchers are preparing to use muography at El Castillo; the pyramid is not yet being scanned as part of the project.
- The collaborators are Mexico's National Autonomous University (UNAM), Chicago State University, Dominican University, the University of Virginia, and Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab).
- El Castillo was built in stages from roughly AD 800 to 1200 over earlier structures.
- The team will first validate the method by locating two chambers known from 1930s excavations, then search for unknown chambers.
- Muography uses the attenuation of cosmic-ray muons to infer interior density and map structures without excavation.
Sources
2023 Abstract from Jensen and Brian | QuarkNetquarknet.org
Muon tomography holds the potential to reveal hidden chambers within the pyramid without physical intrusion. Muon tomography is a cutting-edge ...
Why are scientists going to scan the Chichén Itzá pyramid with ...mexiconewsdaily.com
Scientists will first map out the two known chambers inside “El Castillo ... uses cosmic ray muons, naturally occurring radiation from space.
Scientists search for hidden chambers inside the Kukulkán pyramidearth.com
The chamber scan uses muography, imaging with cosmic particles that pass through stone, to study the pyramid without cutting openings.
Study searches for hidden chambers in the El Castillo pyramidheritagedaily.com
An international team of archaeologists are preparing to use advanced muography technology to search for hidden chambers in the El Castillo ...
UNAM to Use Outer Space Cosmic Rays to Uncover Interior of ...latinobookreview.com
By harnessing cosmic rays and muon detectors, scientists hope to create an image of the insides of El Castillo, the towering pyramid dominating ...
Muon g-2 - Fermilabmuon-g-2.fnal.gov
The Muon g-2 experiment at Fermilab made the world's most precise measurement yet of the magnetic moment of the muon. This long-awaited result ...
Exploration of El Castillo Pyramid Begins for DU-Led Projectdom.edu
Known as a muon detector, the device was installed Jan. 28 inside a tunnel in El Castillo (also known as the Temple of Kukulkan), a 1,000-year-old pyramid in ...
Science | Particle Physics | Muonsfnal.gov
The Mu2e experiment, currently under construction, will search for the hypothesized conversion of muons into their lighter cousins, electrons.
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