The tilt monitoring system of the high elevation Auger telescopes of the Pierre Auger Observatory

The Pierre Auger Observatory for the study of ultra high energy cosmic rays will be completed by the beginning of 2008. Currently, there are three complementary subdetectors under construction called high elevation Auger telescopes that will extend the energy range down to roughly 10¹⁷ eV. In this extended energy range, the transition from galactic to extragalactic cosmic rays is expected to take place. By measuring the composition of the cosmic rays at these energies, this transition could be confirmed. Each one of the high elevation Auger Telescopes will be mounted on an inclination platform with the capacity to tilt them up to 30 degrees, thereby expanding the observation of cosmic ray showers above the field of view of the baseline telescopes. In order to monitor possible mechanical deformations of the optical components of these telescopes, a system consisting of inclination and distance sensors was built at the RWTH. The entire development process going from sensor calibration to installation in an actual fluorescence telescope will be presented during this talk