| 1. |
- Abdellaoui, G., et al.
(författare)
-
An overview of the JEM-EUSO program and results
- 2022
-
Ingår i: 37th International Cosmic Ray Conference, ICRC 2021. - : Sissa Medialab Srl.
-
Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- The field of UHECRs (Ultra-High energy cosmic Rays) and the understanding of particle acceleration in the cosmos, as a key ingredient to the behaviour of the most powerful sources in the universe, is of outmost importance for astroparticle physics as well as for fundamental physics and will improve our general understanding of the universe. The current main goals are to identify sources of UHECRs and their composition. For this, increased statistics is required. A space-based detector for UHECR research has the advantage of a very large exposure and a uniform coverage of the celestial sphere. The aim of the JEM-EUSO program [1] is to bring the study of UHECRs to space. The principle of observation is based on the detection of UV light emitted by isotropic fluorescence of atmospheric nitrogen excited by the Extensive Air Showers (EAS) in the Earth's atmosphere and forward-beamed Cherenkov radiation reflected from the Earth's surface or dense cloud tops. In addition to the prime objective of UHECR studies, JEM-EUSO will do several secondary studies due to the instruments' unique capacity of detecting very weak UV-signals with extreme time-resolution around 1 μs: meteors, Transient Luminous Events (TLE), bioluminescence, maps of human generated UV-light, searches for Strange Quark Matter (SQM) and high-energy neutrinos, and more. The JEM-EUSO program includes several missions from ground (EUSO-TA [2]), from stratospheric balloons (EUSO-Balloon [3], EUSO-SPB1 [4], EUSO-SPB2 [5]), and from space (TUS [6], Mini-EUSO [7]) employing fluorescence detectors to demonstrate the UHECR observation from space and prepare the large size missions K-EUSO [8] and POEMMA [9]. A review of the current status of the program, the key results obtained so far by the different projects, and the perspectives for the near future are presented.
|
|
| 2. |
- Abdellaoui, G., et al.
(författare)
-
EUSO-SPB1 mission and science
- 2024
-
Ingår i: Astroparticle physics. - : Elsevier BV. - 0927-6505 .- 1873-2852. ; 154, s. 102891-
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The Extreme Universe Space Observatory on a Super Pressure Balloon 1 (EUSO-SPB1) was launched in 2017 April from Wanaka, New Zealand. The plan of this mission of opportunity on a NASA super pressure balloon test flight was to circle the southern hemisphere. The primary scientific goal was to make the first observations of ultra-high-energy cosmic-ray extensive air showers (EASs) by looking down on the atmosphere with an ultraviolet (UV) fluorescence telescope from suborbital altitude (33 km). After 12 days and 4 h aloft, the flight was terminated prematurely in the Pacific Ocean. Before the flight, the instrument was tested extensively in the West Desert of Utah, USA, with UV point sources and lasers. The test results indicated that the instrument had sensitivity to EASs of ⪆3 EeV. Simulations of the telescope system, telescope on time, and realized flight trajectory predicted an observation of about 1 event assuming clear sky conditions. The effects of high clouds were estimated to reduce this value by approximately a factor of 2. A manual search and a machine-learning-based search did not find any EAS signals in these data. Here we review the EUSO-SPB1 instrument and flight and the EAS search.
|
|
| 3. |
- Abdellaoui, G., et al.
(författare)
-
Towards observations of nuclearites in Mini-EUSO
- 2022
-
Ingår i: 37th International Cosmic Ray Conference, ICRC 2021. - : Sissa Medialab Srl.
-
Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Mini-EUSO is a small orbital telescope with a field of view of 44◦ × 44◦, observing the night-time Earth mostly in 320-420 nm band. Its time resolution spanning from microseconds (triggered) to milliseconds (untriggered) and more than 300 × 300 km of the ground covered, already allowed it to register thousands of meteors. Such detections make the telescope a suitable tool in the search for hypothetical heavy compact objects, which would leave trails of light in the atmosphere due to their high density and speed. The most prominent example are the nuclearites – hypothetical lumps of strange quark matter that could be stabler and denser than the nuclear matter. In this paper, we show potential limits on the flux of nuclearites after collecting 42 hours of observations data.
|
|
| 4. |
- Abdin, A., et al.
(författare)
-
Solutions for construction of a lunar base : A proposal to use the spacex starship as a permanent habitat
- 2021
-
Ingår i: Proceedings of the International Astronautical Congress, IAC. - : International Astronautical Federation, IAF.
-
Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Returning to the Moon and establishing a permanent human presence is the next step in human space exploration. This necessitates the development of lunar infrastructure up to this task. This contribution presents a framework for rapid, cost-efficient, and supporting construction of a permanent and modular lunar base within the scope of what will be technically and legally feasible today. The proposed concept uses the SpaceX Starship Human Landing System as the foundation for a lunar base. The Starship will be placed horizontally on the lunar surface and transformed into a habitable volume. A workforce of modular rovers will aid astronauts in the construction process, and an array of countermeasures are presented to protect the astronauts from the effects of exposure to radiation, lunar dust, and extended hypogravity. Psychological and psychosocial factors are included to enhance individual well-being and crew dynamics. Physical and cognitive workloads are defined and evaluated to identify effective countermeasures, including specific spacesuit requirements. The proposed construction activities are to be organized as a multi-national public-private partnership to establish an international authority, a concept that has been successful on Earth but has yet to be applied to space activities on a multi-national level. A roadmap incorporating each part of the construction from human and technical perspectives is outlined. Other aspects that are critical to mission success include the cultural significance of the project, legal aspects, budget, financing, and potential future uses of the base. These solutions rely mainly on existing technologies and limited modifications to the lunar lander vehicle, making it a viable solution for the construction of a lunar base in the near future.
|
|
| 5. |
- Abe, S., et al.
(författare)
-
Developments and results in the context of the JEM-EUSO program obtained with the ESAF simulation and analysis framework
- 2023
-
Ingår i: European Physical Journal C. - : Springer Nature. - 1434-6044 .- 1434-6052. ; 83:11
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- JEM-EUSO is an international program for the development of space-based Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Ray observatories. The program consists of a series of missions which are either under development or in the data analysis phase. All instruments are based on a wide-field-of-view telescope, which operates in the near-UV range, designed to detect the fluorescence light emitted by extensive air showers in the atmosphere. We describe the simulation software ESAF in the framework of the JEM-EUSO program and explain the physical assumptions used. We present here the implementation of the JEM-EUSO, POEMMA, K-EUSO, TUS, Mini-EUSO, EUSO-SPB1 and EUSO-TA configurations in ESAF. For the first time ESAF simulation outputs are compared with experimental data.
|
|
| 6. |
- Battisti, M., et al.
(författare)
-
Onboard performance of the level 1 trigger of the mini-EUSO telescope
- 2022
-
Ingår i: Advances in Space Research. - : Elsevier BV. - 0273-1177 .- 1879-1948. ; 70:9, s. 2750-2766
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The Mini-EUSO telescope was launched for the International Space Station on August 22nd, 2019 to observe from the ISS orbit (-400 km altitude) various phenomena occurring in the Earth's atmosphere through a UV-transparent window located in the Russian Zvezda Module. Mini-EUSO is based on a set of two Fresnel lenses of 25 cm diameter each and a focal plane of 48x48 pixels, for a total field of view of 44 degrees. Until July 2021, Mini-EUSO performed a total of 41 data acquisition sessions, obtaining UV images of the Earth in the 290 nm - 430 nm band with temporal and spatial resolution on ground of 2.5 ls and 6.3x6.3 km2, respectively. The data acquisition was performed with a 2.5 ls sampling rate, using a dedicated trigger looking for signals with a typical duration of tens of ls.In the present paper the analysis of the performance of the 2.5 ls trigger logic is presented, with a focus on the method used for the analysis and the categories of triggered events. The expected functioning of the trigger logic has been confirmed, with the trigger rate on spurious events that remains within the requirements in nominal background conditions. The trigger logic detected several different phe-nomena, including lightning strikes, elves, ground-based flashers and events with EAS-like characteristics.
|
|
| 7. |
- Battisti, M., et al.
(författare)
-
Overview of the Mini-EUSO μs trigger logic performance
- 2022
-
Ingår i: 37th International Cosmic Ray Conference, ICRC 2021. - : Sissa Medialab Srl.
-
Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Mini-EUSO is the first detector of the JEM-EUSO program deployed on the ISS. It is a wide field of view telescope currently operating from a nadir-facing UV-transparent window on the ISS. It is based on an array of MAPMTs working in photon counting mode with a 2.5 μs time resolution. Among the different scientific objectives it searches for light signals with time duration compatible to those expected from Extensive Air Showers (EAS) generated by EECRs interacting in the atmosphere. Although the energy threshold for cosmic ray showers is above E > 1021eV, due the constraints given by the size of the UV-transparent window, the dedicated trigger logic has been capable of the detection of other interesting classes of events, like elves and ground flashers. An overview of the general performance of the trigger system is provided, with a particular focus on the identification of classes of events responsible for the triggers.
|
|
| 8. |
|
|
| 9. |
- Bertaina, Mario Edoardo, et al.
(författare)
-
Implications of Mini-EUSO measurements for a space-based observation of UHECRs
- 2023
-
Ingår i: Proceedings 6th International Symposium on Ultra High Energy Cosmic Rays (UHECR). - : EDP Sciences.
-
Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Mini-EUSO is the first mission of the JEM-EUSO program on board the International Space Station. It was launched in 2019 and it is currently located in the Russian section (Zvezda module) of the station and viewing our planet from a nadir-facing UV-transparent window. The instrument is based on the concept of the original JEM-EUSO mission and consists of an optical system employing two Fresnel lenses and a focal surface composed of 36 Multi-Anode Photomultiplier tubes, 64 channels each, for a total of 2304 channels with single photon counting sensitivity and an overall field of view of 44 degrees x 44 degrees. Mini-EUSO can map the night-time Earth in the near UV range (predominantly between 290 nm and 430 nm), with a spatial resolution of about 6.3 km and different temporal resolutions of 2.5 mu, 320 mu s and 41 ms. Mini-EUSO observations are extremely important to better assess the potential of a space-based detector in studying Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Rays (UHECRs) such as K-EUSO and POEMMA. In this contribution we focus the attention on UV measurements, the observation of clouds and of certain categories of events that Mini-EUSO triggers with the shortest temporal resolution. We place them in the context of UHECR observations from space, namely the estimation of exposure and sensitivity to Extensive Air Showers.
|
|
| 10. |
- Bertaina, M., et al.
(författare)
-
The Mini-EUSO telescope on board the International Space Station: first results in view of UHECR measurements from space
- 2023
-
Ingår i: 27th European Cosmic Ray Symposium, ECRS 2022. - : Sissa Medialab Srl.
-
Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Mini-EUSO is a telescope launched on board the International Space Station in 2019 and currently located in the Russian section of the station and viewing our planet from a nadir-facing UV-transparent window in the Zvezda module. The instrument is based on an optical system employing two Fresnel lenses and a focal surface composed of 36 Multi-Anode Photomultiplier tubes, 64 channels each, with single photon counting sensitivity and an overall field of view of 44◦. Main scientific objectives of the mission are the search for nuclearites and Strange Quark Matter, the study of atmospheric phenomena such as Transient Luminous Events, meteors and meteoroids, and the observation of sea bioluminescence. Mini-EUSO can map the night-time Earth in the near UV range (predominantly between 290 – 430 nm), with a spatial resolution of about 6.3 km and different temporal resolutions of 2.5 μs, 320 μs and 41 ms. Mini-EUSO observations are extremely important to assess the potential of a space-based detector of Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Rays (UHECRs) such as K-EUSO and POEMMA. In this contribution we describe the detector and show preliminary results in the context of UHECR observations from space. In particular, it is shown that the typical UV nightglow background level is comparable to what was originally estimated for a space-based detector looking down to Earth. The adaptive trigger logic successfully keeps the spurious trigger rate at the designed level of ∼1 Hz in nominal conditions and in presence of quasi-static bright sources such as city lights. The logic triggers on UV transients in the μs time scale due to anthropogenic light sources, such as flashers. These signals can clearly be distinguished from Extensive Air Shower (EAS) events by comparing them with simulated EASs. In addition, they demonstrate the capability of a large space-based detector such as K-EUSO or POEMMA to detect UHECRs above a few times 1019 eV. The presence of clouds can be clearly recognized by the UV camera in many situations, which is helpful for the calculation of the exposure and for the determination of the atmospheric conditions in case of detection of an EAS.
|
|
| 11. |
- Bianciotto, Marta, et al.
(författare)
-
Expected performance of the K-EUSO space-based observatory
- 2022
-
Ingår i: 37th International Cosmic Ray Conference, ICRC 2021. - : Sissa Medialab Srl.
-
Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- K-EUSO is a planned mission of the JEM-EUSO program for the study of ultra-high energy cosmic rays (UHECR) from space, to be deployed on the International Space Station. The K-EUSO observatory consists of a UV telescope with a wide field of view, which aims at the detection of fluorescence light emitted by extensive air showers (EAS) in the atmosphere. The EAS events will be sampled with a time resolution of 1-2.5 μs to reconstruct the entire shower profile with high precision. The detector consisting of ∼ 105 independent pixels will allow a spatial resolution of ∼700 m on ground. From a 400 km altitude, K-EUSO will achieve a large and full sky exposure to sample the highest energy range of the UHECR spectrum. In this contribution, we present estimates of the performance of the observatory: an estimation of the expected exposure and triggered event rate as a function of energy and the event reconstruction performance, including resolution of arrival directions and energy of UHECRs.
|
|
| 12. |
- Casolino, M., et al.
(författare)
-
Observation of night-time emissions of the Earth in the near UV range from the International Space Station with the Mini-EUSO detector
- 2023
-
Ingår i: Remote Sensing of Environment. - : Elsevier BV. - 0034-4257 .- 1879-0704. ; 284, s. 113336-
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Mini-EUSO (Multiwavelength Imaging New Instrument for the Extreme Universe Space Observatory) is a telescope observing the Earth from the International Space Station since 2019. The instrument employs a Fresnel-lens optical system and a focal surface composed of 36 Multi-Anode Photomultiplier tubes, 64 channels each, for a total of 2304 channels with single photon counting sensitivity. Mini-EUSO also contains two ancillary cameras to complement measurements in the near infrared and visible ranges. The scientific objectives of the mission range from the search for Extensive Air Showers (EAS) generated by Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Rays (UHECRs) with energies above 10(21) eV, the search for nuclearites and Strange Quark Matter (SQM), up to the study of atmospheric phenomena such as Transient Luminous Events (TLEs), meteors and meteoroids. Mini-EUSO can map the night-time Earth in the near UV range (predominantly between 290-430 nm) with a spatial resolution of about 6.3 km (full field of view equal to 44 degrees) and a maximum temporal resolution of 2.5 mu s, observing our planet through a nadir-facing UV-transparent window in the Russian Zvezda module. The detector saves triggered transient phenomena with a sampling rate of 2.5 mu s and 320 mu s, as well as continuous acquisition at 40.96 ms scale. In this paper we discuss the detector response and the flat-fielding and calibration procedures. Using the 40.96 ms data, we present similar or equal to 6.3 km resolution night-time Earth maps in the UV band, and report on various emissions of anthropogenic and natural origin. We measure ionospheric airglow emissions of dark moonless nights over the sea and ground, studying the effect of clouds, moonlight, and artificial (towns, boats) lights. In addition to paving the way forward for the study of long-term variations of light of natural and artificial origin, we also estimate the observation live-time of future UHECR detectors.
|
|
| 13. |
- Casolino, M., et al.
(författare)
-
The Mini-EUSO telescope on board the International Space Station : Launch and first results
- 2022
-
Ingår i: 37th International Cosmic Ray Conference, ICRC 2021. - : Sissa Medialab Srl.
-
Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Mini-EUSO is a telescope launched on board the International Space Station in 2019 and currently located in the Russian section of the station. Main scientific objectives of the mission are the search for nuclearites and Strange Quark Matter, the study of atmospheric phenomena such as Transient Luminous Events, meteors and meteoroids, the observation of sea bioluminescence and of artificial satellites and man-made space debris. It is also capable of observing Extensive Air Showers generated by Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Rays with an energy above 1021 eV and detect artificial showers generated with lasers from the ground. Mini-EUSO can map the night-time Earth in the UV range (290 - 430 nm), with a spatial resolution of about 6.3 km and a temporal resolution of 2.5 μs, observing our planet through a nadir-facing UV-transparent window in the Russian Zvezda module. The instrument, launched on 2019/08/22 from the Baikonur cosmodrome, is based on an optical system employing two Fresnel lenses and a focal surface composed of 36 Multi-Anode Photomultiplier tubes, 64 channels each, for a total of 2304 channels with single photon counting sensitivity and an overall field of view of 44◦. Mini-EUSO also contains two ancillary cameras to complement measurements in the near infrared and visible ranges. In this paper we describe the detector and present the various phenomena observed in the first year of operation.
|
|
| 14. |
- Darugna, Francesco, et al.
(författare)
-
Mitigation of severe weather events and TID impact on the interpolation of SSR atmospheric parameters
- 2021
-
Ingår i: Advances in Space Research. - : Elsevier BV. - 0273-1177 .- 1879-1948. ; 68:6, s. 2401-2420
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In Global Navigation Satellite (GNSS)-based positioning, a user within a region covered by a network of reference stations can take advantage of the network-estimated parameters. The use of State Space Representation (SSR) parameters as GNSS-augmentation is valuable for Network-Real Time Kinematic (N-RTK) positioning and enables the ambiguity resolution for Precise Point Positioning (PPP) in the so-called PPP-RTK. SSR atmospheric corrections, i.e. tropospheric and ionospheric delays, are commonly estimated for the approximate user position by interpolation from values estimated for the reference stations. Widely used techniques are Inverse Distance Weighted, Ordinary Kriging and Weighted Least Squares (WLS). In this work, we analyze the interpolation quality of such techniques during severe weather events and Traveling Ionospheric Disturbances (TID). Furthermore, we propose modified WLS methods taking advantage of the physical atmospheric behavior during such events. Here, we exploit the use of Numerical Weather Models for tropospheric horizontal gradients information, and estimated TID parameters like wavelength and direction of propagation. Firstly, the interpolation is assessed using simulations considering artificial and real network geometries. Secondly, the proposed techniques are evaluated in post-processing using real SSR parameters generated by network computation of GNSS measurements. As examples, two severe weather events in North Europe in 2017, and one TID event over Japan in 2019 have been analyzed. The interpolation of SSR tropospheric and ionospheric parameters is evaluated. Considering the reference station positions as rover locations, the application of the modified WLS approach reduces the root mean square error in up to 80% of the cases during sharp weather fluctuations. Also, the average error can be decreased in 64% of the cases during the TID event investigated. Improvements up to factors larger than two are observed. Furthermore, specific cases are isolated showing particular tropospheric variations where significant errors (e.g. larger than 1 cm) can be reduced up to 20% of the total amount. Finally, tropospheric and ionospheric messages are proposed to transmit to the user the information needed to implement the suggested interpolation properly.
|
|
| 15. |
- Fenu, Francesco, et al.
(författare)
-
Estimation of the exposure of the TUS space-based cosmic ray observatory
- 2022
-
Ingår i: 37th International Cosmic Ray Conference, ICRC 2021. - : Sissa Medialab Srl.
-
Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- The TUS observatory was the first orbital detector aimed at the detection of ultra-high energy cosmic rays (UHECRs). It was launched on April 28, 2016, from the Vostochny cosmodrome in Russia and operated until December 2017. It collected ∼ 80, 000 events with a time resolution of 0.8 μs. A fundamental parameter to be determined for cosmic ray studies is the exposure of an experiment. This parameter is important to estimate the average expected event rate as a function of energy and to calculate the absolute flux in case of event detection. Here we present results of a study aimed to calculate the exposure that TUS accumulated during its mission. The role of clouds, detector dead time, artificial sources, storms, lightning discharges, airglow and moon phases is studied in detail. An exposure estimate with its geographical distribution is presented. We report on the applied technique and on the perspectives of this study in view of the future missions of the JEM-EUSO program.
|
|
| 16. |
- Golzio, Alessio, et al.
(författare)
-
A study on UV emission from clouds with Mini-EUSO
- 2022
-
Ingår i: 37th International Cosmic Ray Conference, ICRC 2021. - : Sissa Medialab Srl.
-
Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Mini-EUSO is the first mission of the JEM-EUSO program located on the International Space Station. One of the main goals of the mission is to provide valuable scientific data in view of future large missions devoted to study Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Rays (UHECRs) from space by exploiting the fluorescence emission generated by Extensive Air Showers (EAS) developing in the atmosphere. A space mission like Mini-EUSO experiences continuous changes in atmospheric conditions, including the cloud presence. The influence of clouds on space-based observation is, therefore, an important topic to investigate as it might alter the instantaneous exposure for EAS detection or deteriorate the quality of the EAS images with consequences on the reconstructed EAS parameters. For this purpose, JEM-EUSO is planning to have an IR camera and a lidar as part of its Atmospheric Monitoring System. At the same time, it would be extremely beneficial if the UV camera itself would be able to detect the presence of clouds, at least in some specific conditions. For this reason, we analyze a few case studies by comparing the pixel count rates from Mini-EUSO during orbits with the cloud cover (as cloud fraction). This quantity is retrieved from the Global Forecast System (GFS) model at different height levels over the Mini-EUSO trajectory. The results of this analysis are reported.
|
|
| 17. |
- Heaton, C., et al.
(författare)
-
Expected Performance of the EUSO-SPB2 Fluorescence Telescope
- 2022
-
Ingår i: 37th International Cosmic Ray Conference, ICRC 2021. - : Sissa Medialab Srl.
-
Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- The Extreme Universe Space Observatory Super Pressure Balloon 2 (EUSO-SPB2) is under development, and will prototype instrumentation for future satellite-based missions, including the Probe of Extreme Multi-Messenger Astrophysics (POEMMA). EUSO-SPB2 will consist of two telescopes. The first is a Cherenkov telescope (CT) being developed to identify and estimate the background sources for future below-the-limb very high energy (E>10 PeV) astrophysical neutrino observations, as well as above-the-limb cosmic ray induced signals (E>1 PeV). The second is a fluorescence telescope (FT) being developed for detection of Ultra High Energy Cosmic Rays (UHECRs). In preparation for the expected launch in 2023, extensive simulations tuned by preliminary laboratory measurements have been performed to understand the FT capabilities. The energy threshold has been estimated at 1018.2 eV, and results in a maximum detection rate at 1018.6 eV when taking into account the shape of the UHECR spectrum. In addition, onboard software has been developed based on the simulations as well as experience with previous EUSO missions. This includes a level 1 trigger to be run on the computationally limited flight hardware, as well as a deep learning based prioritization algorithm in order to accommodate the balloon's telemetry budget. These techniques could also be used later for future, space-based missions.
|
|
| 18. |
- Kungel, Viktoria, et al.
(författare)
-
EUSO-SPB2 Telescope Optics and Testing
- 2022
-
Ingår i: 37th International Cosmic Ray Conference, ICRC 2021. - : Sissa Medialab Srl.
-
Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- The Extreme Universe Space Observatory - Super Pressure Balloon (EUSO-SPB2) mission will fly two custom telescopes that feature Schmidt optics to measure Čerenkov- and fluorescence-emission of extensive air-showers from cosmic rays at the PeV and EeV-scale, and search for τ-neutrinos. Both telescopes have 1-meter diameter apertures and UV/UV-visible sensitivity. The Čerenkov telescope uses a bifocal mirror segment alignment, to distinguish between a direct cosmic ray that hits the camera versus the Čerenkov light from outside the telescope. Telescope integration and laboratory calibration will be performed in Colorado. To estimate the point spread function and efficiency of the integrated telescopes, a test beam system that delivers a 1-meter diameter parallel beam of light is being fabricated. End-to-end tests of the fully integrated instruments will be carried out in a field campaign at dark sites in the Utah desert using cosmic rays, stars, and artificial light sources. Laser tracks have long been used to characterize the performance of fluorescence detectors in the field. For EUSO-SPB2 an improvement in the method that includes a correction for aerosol attenuation is anticipated by using a bi-dynamic Lidar configuration in which both the laser and the telescope are steerable. We plan to conduct these field tests in Fall 2021 and Spring 2022 to accommodate the scheduled launch of EUSO-SPB2 in 2023 from Wanaka, New Zealand.
|
|
| 19. |
- Marcelli, L., et al.
(författare)
-
Dataset of night-time emissions of the Earth in the near UV range (290-430 nm), with 6.3 km resolution in the latitude range -51.6
- 2023
-
Ingår i: Data in Brief. - : Elsevier BV. - 2352-3409. ; 48
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The data presented in this article are related to the research paper entitled “Observation of night-time emissions of the Earth in the near UV range from the International Space Station with the Mini-EUSO detector” (Remote Sensing of Environment, Volume 284, January 2023, 113336, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2022.113336). The data have been acquired with the Mini-EUSO detector, an UV telescope operating in the range 290-430 nm and located inside the International Space Station. The detector was launched in August 2019, and it has started operations from the nadir-facing UV-transparent window in the Russian Zvezda module in October 2019. The data presented here refer to 32 sessions acquired between 2019-11-19 and 2021-05-06. The instrument consists of a Fresnel-lens optical system and a focal surface composed of 36 multi-anode photomultiplier tubes, each with 64 channels, for a total of 2304 channels with single photon counting sensitivity. The telescope, with a square field-of-view of 44°, has a spatial resolution on the Earth surface of 6.3 km and saves triggered transient phenomena with a temporal resolution of 2.5 µs and 320 µs. The telescope also operates in continuous acquisition at a 40.96 ms scale. In this article, large-area night-time UV maps obtained processing the 40.96 ms data, taking averages over regions of some specific geographical areas (e.g., Europe, North America) and over the entire globe, are presented. Data are binned into 0.1° × 0.1° or 0.05° × 0.05° cells (depending on the scale of the map) over the Earth's surface. Raw data are made available in the form of tables (latitude, longitude, counts) and.kmz files (containing the.png images). These are – to the best of our knowledge – the highest sensitivity data in this wavelength range and can be of use to various disciplines.
|
|
| 20. |
- Marcelli, L., et al.
(författare)
-
Integration, qualification, and launch of the Mini-EUSO telescope on board the ISS
- 2023
-
Ingår i: Rendiconti Lincei SCIENZE FISICHE E NATURALI. - : Springer Nature. - 2037-4631 .- 1720-0776. ; 34:1, s. 23-35
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Mini-EUSO is a high-sensitivity imaging telescope that observes the Earth from the ISS in the near ultraviolet band (290÷ 430 nm), through the nadir-facing, UV-transparent window in the Russian Zvezda module. The instrument, launched in 2019, has a field of view of 44∘, a spatial resolution on the Earth’s surface of 6.3 km and a temporal sampling rate of 2.5 microseconds. Thanks to its triggering and on-board processing, the telescope is capable of detecting UV emissions of cosmic, atmospheric, and terrestrial origin on different time scales, from a few microseconds up to tens of milliseconds. The optics is composed of two Fresnel lenses focusing light onto an array of 36 Hamamatsu Multi-Anode PhotoMultiplier Tubes, for a total of 2304 pixels. The telescope also contains two cameras in the near-infrared and visible, an 8-by-8 array of Silicon-PhotoMultipliers and a series of UV sensors to manage night-day transitions. The scientific objectives range from the observation of atmospheric phenomena [lightning, Transient Luminous Events (TLEs), ELVES], the study of meteoroids, the search of interstellar meteoroids and strange quark matter, mapping of the Earth’s nocturnal emissions in the ultraviolet range, and the search of cosmic rays with energy above 1021 eV. The instrument has been integrated and qualified in 2019, with the final tests in Baikonur prior to its launch. Operations involve periodic installation in the Zvezda module of the station with observations during the crew night time, with periodic downlink of data samples, with the full data being sent to the ground via pouches containing the data disks. Mission planning involves the selection of the optimal orbits to maximize the scientific return of the instrument. In this work, we will describe the various phases of construction, testing, and qualification prior to the launch and the in-flight operations of the instrument on board the ISS.
|
|
| 21. |
- Marcelli, Laura, et al.
(författare)
-
Observation of ELVES with Mini-EUSO telescope on board the International Space Station
- 2022
-
Ingår i: 37th International Cosmic Ray Conference, ICRC 2021. - : Sissa Medialab Srl.
-
Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Mini-EUSO is a detector observing the Earth in the ultraviolet band from the International Space Station through a nadir-facing window, transparent to the UV radiation, in the Russian Zvezda module. Mini-EUSO main detector consists in an optical system with two Fresnel lenses and a focal surface composed of an array of 36 Hamamatsu Multi-Anode Photo-Multiplier tubes, for a total of 2304 pixels, with single photon counting sensitivity. The telescope also contains two ancillary cameras, in the near infrared and visible ranges, to complement measurements in these bandwidths. The instrument has a field of view of 44◦, a spatial resolution of about 6.3 km on the Earth surface and of about 4.7 km on the ionosphere. The telescope detects UV emissions of cosmic, atmospheric and terrestrial origin on different time scales, from a few µs upwards. On the fastest timescale of 2.5 µs, Mini-EUSO is able to observe atmospheric phenomena as Transient Luminous Events and in particular the ELVES, which take place when an electromagnetic wave generated by intra-cloud lightning interacts with the ionosphere, ionizing it and producing apparently superluminal expanding rings of several 100 km and lasting ' 100 µs. These highly energetic fast events have been observed to be produced in conjunction also with Terrestrial Gamma-Ray Flashes and therefore a detailed study of their characteristics (speed, radius, energy ...) is of crucial importance for the understanding of these phenomena. In this paper we present the observational capabilities of ELVE detection by Mini-EUSO and specifically the reconstruction and study of ELVE characteristics.
|
|
| 22. |
- Miyamoto, Hiroko, et al.
(författare)
-
An end-to-end in-flight calibration of Mini-EUSO detector
- 2023
-
Ingår i: Proceeding 6th international symposium on Ultra High Energy Cosmic Rays (UHECR). - : EDP Sciences.
-
Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Mini-EUSO is a wide Field-of-View (FoV, 44 degrees) telescope currently in operation from a nadir-facing UV-transparent window in the Russian Zvezda module on the International Space Station (ISS). It is the first detector of the JEM-EUSO program deployed on the ISS, launched in August 2019. The main goal of Mini-EUSO is to measure the UV emissions from the ground and atmosphere, using an orbital platform. Mini-EUSO is mainly sensitive in the 290-430 nm bandwidth. Light is focused by a system of two Fresnel lenses of 25 cm diameter each on the Photo-Detector-Module (PDM), which consists of an array of 36 Multi-Anode Photomultiplier Tubes (MAPMTs), arranged in blocks of 2 x 2 called Elementary Cells (ECs), for a total of 2304 pixels working in photon counting mode, in three different time resolutions of 2.5 mu s (defined as 1 Gate Time Unit, GTU), 320 mu s and 40.96 ms operating in parallel. In the longest time scale, the data is continuously acquired to monitor the UV emission of the Earth. It is best suited for the observation of ground sources and therefore has been used for the observational campaigns of the ground-based UV flasher in order to perform an end-to-end calibration of Mini-EUSO. In this contribution, the assembled UV flasher, the operation of the field campaign and the analysis of the obtained data are presented. The result is compared with the overall efficiency computed from the expectations which takes into account the atmospheric attenuation and the parametrisation of different effects such as the optics efficiency, the MAPMT detection efficiency, BG3 filter transmittance and the transparency of the ISS window.
|
|
| 23. |
- Miyamoto, H., et al.
(författare)
-
EUSO@TurLab project in view of Mini-EUSO and EUSO-SPB2 missions
- 2022
-
Ingår i: 37th International Cosmic Ray Conference, ICRC 2021. - : Sissa Medialab Srl.
-
Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- The TurLab facility is a laboratory, equipped with a 5 m diameter and 1 m depth rotating tank, located in the fourth basement level of the Physics Department of the University of Turin. In the past years, we have used the facility to perform experiments related to the observations of Extreme Energy Cosmic Rays (EECRs) from space using the fluorescence technique for JEM-EUSO missions with the main objective to test the response of the trigger logic. In the missions, the diffuse night brightness and artificial and natural light sources can vary significantly in time and space in the Field of View (FoV) of the telescope. Therefore, it is essential to verify the detector performance and test the trigger logic under such an environment. By means of the tank rotation, a various terrestrial surface with the different optical characteristics such as ocean, land, forest, desert and clouds, as well as artificial and natural light sources such as city lights, lightnings and meteors passing by the detector FoV one after the other is reproduced. The fact that the tank located in a very dark place enables the tests under an optically controlled environment. Using the Mini-EUSO data taken since 2019 onboard the ISS, we will report on the comparison between TurLab and ISS measurements in view of future experiments at TurLab. Moreover, in the forthcoming months we will start testing the trigger logic of the EUSO-SPB2 mission. We report also on the plans and status for this purpose.
|
|
| 24. |
- Miyamoto, H., et al.
(författare)
-
Simulation studies for the Mini-EUSO detector
- 2022
-
Ingår i: 37th International Cosmic Ray Conference, ICRC 2021. - : Sissa Medialab Srl.
-
Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Mini-EUSO is a mission of the JEM-EUSO program flying onboard the International Space Station since August 2019. Since the first data acquisition in October 2019, more than 35 sessions have been performed for a total of 52 hours of observations. The detector has been observing Earth at night-time in the UV range and detected a wide variety of transient sources all of which have been modeled through Monte Carlo simulations. Mini-EUSO is also capable of detecting meteors and potentially space debris and we performed simulations for such events to estimate their impact on future missions for cosmic ray science from space. We show here examples of the simulation work done in this framework to analyze the Mini-EUSO data. The expected response of Mini-EUSO with respect to ultra high energy cosmic ray showers has been studied. The efficiency curve of Mini-EUSO as a function of primary energy has been estimated and the energy threshold for Cosmic Rays has been placed to be above 1021 eV. We compared the morphology of several transient events detected during the mission with cosmic ray simulations and excluded that they can be due to cosmic ray showers. To validate the energy threshold of the detector, a system of ground based flashers is being used for end-to-end calibration purposes. We therefore implemented a parameterization of such flashers into the JEM-EUSO simulation framework and studied the response of the detector with respect to such sources.
|
|
| 25. |
- Osteria, G., et al.
(författare)
-
The Fluorescence Telescope on board EUSO-SPB2 for the detection of Ultra High Energy Cosmic Rays
- 2022
-
Ingår i: 37th International Cosmic Ray Conference, ICRC 2021. - : Sissa Medialab Srl.
-
Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- The Fluorescence Telescope is one of the two telescopes on board the Extreme Universe Space Observatory on a Super Pressure Balloon II (EUSO-SPB2). EUSO-SPB2 is an ultra-long-duration balloon mission that aims at the detection of Ultra High Energy Cosmic Rays (UHECR) via the fluorescence technique (using a Fluorescence Telescope) and of Ultra High Energy (UHE) neutrinos via Cherenkov emission (using a Cherenkov Telescope). The mission is planned to fly in 2023 and is a precursor of the Probe of Extreme Multi-Messenger Astrophysics (POEMMA). The Fluorescence Telescope is a second generation instrument preceded by the telescopes flown on the EUSO-Balloon and EUSO-SPB1 missions. It features Schmidt optics and has a 1-meter diameter aperture. The focal surface of the telescope is equipped with a 6912-pixel Multi Anode Photo Multipliers (MAPMT) camera covering a 37.4 x 11.4 degree Field of Regard. Such a big Field of Regard, together with a flight target duration of up to 100 days, would allow, for the first time from suborbital altitudes, detection of UHECR fluorescence tracks. This contribution will provide an overview of the instrument including the current status of the telescope development.
|
|
