Cosmic Ray Research Station on Top of Mount Aragats

A stone vishap (dragon stone) installed on the shores of the mountain Kari Lake is five thousand years old. The terrible vishap – the silent guardian of the water element – is today perceived somewhat differently: it is considered an unshakable bridge between the past, the present, and the future.

It symbolizes the connection of times since it is located in the territory of the first cosmic ray research station in the world founded in 1942-1943.

In the 20th century, the volcanic massif of Aragats, on the slopes of which civilization was once born, was chosen by individuals whose activities marked new heights of the development of their civilization – the Alikhanyan brothers, Abraham and Artem.

The Alikhanian brothers were among the leaders of the Soviet atomic project and among the establishers of Soviet particle physics. In 1942, they initiated a scientific project on Aragats in order to find the third component of cosmic rays, the proton.

Back in 1934, they began their work in the field of particle physics. Together with M. Kozodayev, they discovered and investigated the effect of ejection of an electron-positron pair from an excited nucleus.

Exactly ten years later, Abraham Alikhanyan not only described an atomic bomb device (which did not even exist in the Los Alamos laboratories at that time) but also revealed three ways of neutralizing it. It could be made to work periodically like an internal combustion engine. But at the right moment, it could be made into a weapon instantly.

The famous Aragats Cosmic Ray Research Station is located at an altitude of 3200 meters. Despite the severity of the climate, it works year-round.

Kari Lich Lake (Aragatsotn, Armenia)