| 1. |
- Abdellaoui, G., et al.
(författare)
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First observations of speed of light tracks by a fluorescence detector looking down on the atmosphere
- 2018
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Ingår i: Journal of Instrumentation. - : IOP PUBLISHING LTD. - 1748-0221. ; 13
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- EUSO-Balloon is a pathfinder mission for the Extreme Universe Space Observatory onboard the Japanese Experiment Module (JEM-EUSO). It was launched on the moonless night of the 25(th) of August 2014 from Timmins, Canada. The flight ended successfully after maintaining the target altitude of 38 km for five hours. One part of the mission was a 2.5 hour underflight using a helicopter equipped with three UV light sources (LED, xenon flasher and laser) to perform an inflight calibration and examine the detectors capability to measure tracks moving at the speed of light. We describe the helicopter laser system and details of the underflight as well as how the laser tracks were recorded and found in the data. These are the first recorded laser tracks measured from a fluorescence detector looking down on the atmosphere. Finally, we present a first reconstruction of the direction of the laser tracks relative to the detector.
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| 2. |
- Abdellaoui, G., et al.
(författare)
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Meteor studies in the framework of the JEM-EUSO program
- 2017
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Ingår i: Planetary and Space Science. - : Elsevier. - 0032-0633 .- 1873-5088. ; 143, s. 245-255
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We summarize the state of the art of a program of UV observations from space of meteor phenomena, a secondary objective of the JEM-EUSO international collaboration. Our preliminary analysis indicates that JEM-EUSO, taking advantage of its large FOV and good sensitivity, should be able to detect meteors down to absolute magnitude close to 7. This means that JEM-EUSO should be able to record a statistically significant flux of meteors, including both sporadic ones, and events produced by different meteor streams. Being unaffected by adverse weather conditions, JEM-EUSO can also be a very important facility for the detection of bright meteors and fireballs, as these events can be detected even in conditions of very high sky background. In the case of bright events, moreover, exhibiting some persistence of the meteor train, preliminary simulations show that it should be possible to exploit the motion of the ISS itself and derive at least a rough 3D reconstruction of the meteor trajectory. Moreover, the observing strategy developed to detect meteors may also be applied to the detection of nuclearites, exotic particles whose existence has been suggested by some theoretical investigations. Nuclearites are expected to move at higher velocities than meteoroids, and to exhibit a wider range of possible trajectories, including particles moving upward after crossing the Earth. Some pilot studies, including the approved Mini-EUSO mission, a precursor of JEM-EUSO, are currently operational or in preparation. We are doing simulations to assess the performance of Mini-EUSO for meteor studies, while a few meteor events have been already detected using the ground-based facility EUSO-TA.
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| 3. |
- Adriani, O., et al.
(författare)
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Measurement of Boron and Carbon Fluxes in Cosmic Rays with the Pamela Experiment
- 2014
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Ingår i: Astrophysical Journal. - 0004-637X .- 1538-4357. ; 791:2, s. 93-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The propagation of cosmic rays inside our galaxy plays a fundamental role in shaping their injection spectra into those observed at Earth. One of the best tools to investigate this issue is the ratio of fluxes for secondary and primary species. The boron-to-carbon (B/C) ratio, in particular, is a sensitive probe to investigate propagation mechanisms. This paper presents new measurements of the absolute fluxes of boron and carbon nuclei as well as the B/C ratio from the PAMELA space experiment. The results span the range 0.44-129 GeV/n in kinetic energy for data taken in the period 2006 July to 2008 March.
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| 4. |
- Adriani, O., et al.
(författare)
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MEASUREMENTS OF COSMIC-RAY HYDROGEN AND HELIUM ISOTOPES WITH THE PAMELA EXPERIMENT
- 2016
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Ingår i: Astrophysical Journal. - 0004-637X .- 1538-4357. ; 818:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The cosmic-ray hydrogen and helium (H-1, H-2, He-3, He-4) isotopic composition has been measured with the satellite-borne experiment PAMELA, which was launched into low-Earth orbit on board the Resurs-DK1 satellite on 2006 June 15. The rare isotopes H-2 and He-3 in cosmic rays are believed to originate mainly from the interaction of high-energy protons and helium with the galactic interstellar medium. The isotopic composition was measured between 100 and 1100 MeV/n for hydrogen and between 100 and 1400 MeV/n for helium isotopes using two different detector systems over the 23rd solar minimum from 2006 July to 2007 December.
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| 5. |
- Adriani, O., et al.
(författare)
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Pamela's measurements of magnetospheric effects on high-energy solar particles
- 2015
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Ingår i: Astrophysical Journal Letters. - 2041-8205 .- 2041-8213. ; 801:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The nature of particle acceleration at the Sun, whether through flare reconnection processes or through shocks driven by coronal mass ejections, is still under scrutiny despite decades of research. The measured properties of solar energetic particles (SEPs) have long been modeled in different particle-acceleration scenarios. The challenge has been to disentangle the effects of transport from those of acceleration. The Payload for Antimatter Matter Exploration and Light-nuclei Astrophysics (PAMELA) instrument enables unique observations of SEPs including the composition and angular distribution of the particles about the magnetic field, i.e., pitch angle distribution, over a broad energy range (>80 MeV)-bridging a critical gap between space-based and ground-based measurements. We present high-energy SEP data from PAMELA acquired during the 2012 May 17 SEP event. These data exhibit differential anisotropies and thus transport features over the instrument rigidity range. SEP protons exhibit two distinct pitch angle distributions: a low-energy population that extends to 90 degrees and a population that is beamed at high energies (>1 GeV), consistent with neutron monitor measurements. To explain a low-energy SEP population that exhibits significant scattering or redistribution accompanied by a high-energy population that reaches the Earth relatively unaffected by dispersive transport effects, we postulate that the scattering or redistribution takes place locally. We believe that these are the first comprehensive measurements of the effects of solar energetic particle transport in the Earth's magnetosheath.
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| 6. |
- Adriani, O., et al.
(författare)
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Reentrant albedo proton fluxes measured by the PAMELA experiment
- 2015
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Ingår i: Journal of Geophysical Research - Space Physics. - 2169-9380 .- 2169-9402. ; 120:5, s. 3728-3738
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We present a precise measurement of downward going albedo proton fluxes for kinetic energy above similar to 70 MeV performed by the Payload for Antimatter Matter Exploration and Light-nuclei Astrophysics (PAMELA) experiment at an altitude between 350 and 610 km. On the basis of a trajectory tracing simulation, the analyzed protons were classified into quasi-trapped, concentrating in the magnetic equatorial region, and untrapped spreading over all latitudes, including both short-lived (precipitating) and long-lived (pseudotrapped) components. In addition, features of the penumbra region around the geomagnetic cutoff were investigated in detail. PAMELA results significantly improve the characterization of the high-energy albedo proton populations at low-Earth orbits.
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| 7. |
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| 8. |
- Adriani, O., et al.
(författare)
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Ten years of PAMELA in space
- 2017
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Ingår i: La Rivista del nuovo cimento della Società italiana di fisica. - : Società Italiana di Fisica. - 0393-697X .- 1826-9850. ; 40:10, s. 473-522
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The PAMELA cosmic-ray detector was launched on June 15th 2006 on board the Russian Resurs-DK1 satellite, and during ten years of nearly continuous data-taking it has observed new interesting features in cosmic rays (CRs). In a decade of operation it has provided plenty of scientific data, covering different issues related to cosmic-ray physics. Its discoveries might change our basic vision of the mechanisms of production, acceleration and propagation of cosmic rays in the Galaxy. The antimatter measurements, focus of the experiment, have set strong constraints to the nature of Dark Matter. Search for signatures of more exotic processes (such as the ones involving Strange Quark Matter) was also pursued. Furthermore, the long-term operation of the instrument had allowed a constant monitoring of the solar activity during its maximum and a detailed and prolonged study of the solar modulation, improving the comprehension of the heliosphere mechanisms. PAMELA had also measured the radiation environment around the Earth, and it detected for the first time the presence of an antiproton radiation belt surrounding our planet. The operation of Resurs-DK1 was terminated in 2016. In this article we will review the main features of the PAMELA instrument and its constructing phases. The main part of the article will be dedicated to the summary of the most relevant PAMELA results over a decade of observation.
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| 9. |
- Adriani, O., et al.
(författare)
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Time Dependence of the Electron and Positron Components of the Cosmic Radiation Measured by the PAMELA Experiment between July 2006 and December 2015
- 2016
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Ingår i: Physical Review Letters. - 0031-9007 .- 1079-7114. ; 116:24
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Cosmic-ray electrons and positrons are a unique probe of the propagation of cosmic rays as well as of the nature and distribution of particle sources in our Galaxy. Recent measurements of these particles are challenging our basic understanding of the mechanisms of production, acceleration, and propagation of cosmic rays. Particularly striking are the differences between the low energy results collected by the space-borne PAMELA and AMS-02 experiments and older measurements pointing to sign-charge dependence of the solar modulation of cosmic-ray spectra. The PAMELA experiment has been measuring the time variation of the positron and electron intensity at Earth from July 2006 to December 2015 covering the period for the minimum of solar cycle 23 (2006-2009) until the middle of the maximum of solar cycle 24, through the polarity reversal of the heliospheric magnetic field which took place between 2013 and 2014. The positron to electron ratio measured in this time period clearly shows a sign-charge dependence of the solar modulation introduced by particle drifts. These results provide the first clear and continuous observation of how drift effects on solar modulation have unfolded with time from solar minimum to solar maximum and their dependence on the particle rigidity and the cyclic polarity of the solar magnetic field.
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| 10. |
- Adriani, O., et al.
(författare)
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Unexpected Cyclic Behavior in Cosmic-Ray Protons Observed by PAMELA at 1 au
- 2018
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Ingår i: Astrophysical Journal Letters. - : IOP PUBLISHING LTD. - 2041-8205 .- 2041-8213. ; 852:2
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Protons detected by the PAMELA experiment in the period 2006-2014 have been analyzed in the energy range between 0.40 and 50 GV to explore possible periodicities besides the well known solar undecennial modulation. An unexpected clear and regular feature has been found at rigidities below 15 GV, with a quasi-periodicity of similar to 450 days. A possible Jovian origin of this periodicity has been investigated in different ways. The results seem to favor a small but not negligible contribution to cosmic rays from the Jovian magnetosphere, even if other explanations cannot be excluded.
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