| 1. |
- Abdellaoui, G., et al.
(author)
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Meteor studies in the framework of the JEM-EUSO program
- 2017
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In: Planetary and Space Science. - : Elsevier. - 0032-0633 .- 1873-5088. ; 143, s. 245-255
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)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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| 2. |
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| 3. |
- Abdellaoui, G., et al.
(author)
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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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In: Journal of Instrumentation. - : IOP PUBLISHING LTD. - 1748-0221. ; 13
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)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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| 4. |
- Roelfsema, P. R., et al.
(author)
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SPICA-A Large Cryogenic Infrared Space Telescope : Unveiling the Obscured Universe
- 2018
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In: Publications Astronomical Society of Australia. - : Cambridge University Press (CUP). - 1323-3580 .- 1448-6083. ; 35
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Measurements in the infrared wavelength domain allow direct assessment of the physical state and energy balance of cool matter in space, enabling the detailed study of the processes that govern the formation and evolution of stars and planetary systems in galaxies over cosmic time. Previous infrared missions revealed a great deal about the obscured Universe, but were hampered by limited sensitivity. SPICA takes the next step in infrared observational capability by combining a large 2.5-meter diameter telescope. cooled to below 8 K, with instruments employing ultra-sensitive detectors. A combination of passive cooling and mechanical coolers will be used to cool both the telescope and the instruments. With mechanical coolers the mission lifetime is not limited by the supply of cryogen. With the combination of low telescope background and instruments with state-of-the-art detectors SPICA provides a huge advance on the capabilities of previous missions. SPICA instruments offer spectral resolving power ranging from R similar to 50 through 11 000 in the 17-230 mu m domain and R similar to 28.000 spectroscopy between 12 and 18 mu m.SPICA will provide efficient 30-37 mu m broad band mapping, and small field spectroscopic and polarimetric imaging at 100, 200 and 350 mu m. SPICA will provide infrared spectroscopy with an unprecedented sensitivity of similar to 5 x 10(-20) W m (-2) (5 sigma/1 h)-over two orders of magnitude improvement over what earlier missions. This exceptional performance leap, will open entirely new domains in infrared astronomy; galaxy evolution and metal production over cosmic time, dust formation and evolution from very early epochs onwards, the formation history of planetary systems.
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| 5. |
- Bisconti, F., et al.
(author)
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EUSO-TA ground based fluorescence detector : Analysis of the detected events
- 2019
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In: Proceedings of Science. - : Sissa Medialab Srl.
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- EUSO-TA is a ground-based florescence detector built to validate the design of an ultra-high energy cosmic ray fluorescence detector to be operated in space. EUSO-TA detected the first air shower events with the technology developed within the JEM-EUSO program. It operates at the Telescope Array (TA) site in Utah, USA. With the external trigger provided by the Black Rock Mesa fluorescence detectors of Telescope Array (TA-FDs), EUSO-TA observed nine ultra-high energy cosmic ray events and several laser events from the Central Laser Facility of Telescope Array and portable lasers like the JEM-EUSO Global Light System prototype. The reconstruction parameters of the cosmic ray events which crossed the EUSO-TA field of view (both detected and not detected by EUSO-TA), were provided by the Telescope Array Collaboration. As the TA-FDs have a wider field of view than EUSO-TA (~30 times larger), they allow the cosmic ray energy reconstruction based on the observation of most of the extensive air-shower profiles, including the shower maximum, while EUSO-TA only observes a portion of the showers, usually far from the maximum. For this reason, the energy of the cosmic rays corresponding to the EUSO-TA signals appear lower than the actual ones. In this contribution, the analysis of the cosmic-ray events detected with EUSO-TA is discussed.
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| 6. |
- Fenu, F., et al.
(author)
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Preliminary analysis of EUSO - TA data
- 2016
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In: Journal of Physics, Conference Series. - : Institute of Physics Publishing (IOPP). - 1742-6588 .- 1742-6596. ; 718:5
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The EUSO-TA detector is a pathfinder for the JEM-EUSO project and is currently installed in Black Rock Mesa (Utah) on the site of the Telescope Array fluorescence detectors. Aim of this experiment is to validate the observation principle of JEM-EUSO on air showers measured from ground. The experiment gets data in coincidence with the TA triggers to increase the likelihood of cosmic ray detection. In this framework the collaboration is also testing the detector response with respect to several test events from lasers and LED flashers. Moreover, another aim of the project is the validation of the stability of the data acquisition chain in real sky condition and the optimization of the trigger scheme for the rejection of background. Data analysis is ongoing to identify cosmic ray events in coincidence with the TA detector. In this contribution we will show the response of the EUSO-TA detector to all the different typologies of events and we will show some preliminary results on the trigger optimization performed on such data.
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| 7. |
- Battisti, M, et al.
(author)
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Trigger developments for the fluorescence detector of EUSO-TA and EUSO-SPB2
- 2019
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In: 36th International Cosmic Ray Conference, ICRC 2019.
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The JEM-EUSO program aims at detecting Ultra High Energy Cosmic Rays (UHECRs) by observing the fluorescence light produced by extensive air showers (EAS) in the Earth’s atmosphere. Within this program, a new generation of missions is being built, including (i) Mini-EUSO that will be installed on board the ISS in August 2019, (ii) an upgrade to the ground-based telescope EUSO-TA and (iii) the second super pressure balloon flight (EUSO-SPB2). All these detectors will have a dedicated trigger system based on a board equipped with a Xilinx Zynq device that will be able to detect different types of events on three different time-scales: a microsecond timescale for cosmic ray detection (L1), a hundreds of microsecond time-scale for slower events like transient luminous events (TLEs) (L2), and a tens of millisecond time-scale used to produce a continuous monitoring, for even slower events like meteors or nuclearites. The L1 trigger logic for the upgrade of EUSO-TA and EUSO-SPB2 are being developed taking into account the peculiarity of each detector (optic system, FOV, frame length) starting from the logic already developed for Mini-EUSO. In particular, every pixel will have an independent threshold that will be dynamically adapted to the level of the background; a predetermined condition on the number, the position and the time distribution of pixels above threshold has to be satisfied in order to issue a trigger. This contribution will summarize the L1 trigger logics and the tests currently performed.
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| 8. |
- Bisconti, F, et al.
(author)
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Mini-EUSO engineering model : Tests in open-sky condition
- 2019
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In: 36th International Cosmic Ray Conference, ICRC 2019. - : Sissa Medialab Srl.
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Mini-EUSO is a UV telescope that will look downwards to the Earth’s atmosphere onboard the International Space Station. With the design of the ultra-high energy cosmic ray fluorescence detectors belonging to the JEM-EUSO program, it will make the first UV map of the Earth by observing atmospheric phenomena such as transient luminous events, sprites and lightning, as well as meteors and bioluminescence from earth. Diffused light from laser shots from the ground, which mimic the fluorescence light emitted by Nitrogen molecules when extensive air showers pass through the atmosphere, can be used to verify the capability of this kind of detector to observe ultra-high energy cosmic rays. To validate the electronics and the trigger algorithms developed for Mini-EUSO, a scaled down version of the telescope with 1:9 of the original focal surface and a lens of 2.5 cm diameter has been built. Tests of the Mini-EUSO engineering model have been made in laboratory and in open sky condition. In this paper, we report results of observations of the night sky, which include the detection of stars, meteors, a planet and a rocket body reflecting the sunlight. Interesting results of the observation of city lights are also reported.
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| 9. |
- Casolino, M, et al.
(author)
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Mini-EUSO experiment to study UV emission of terrestrial and astrophysical origin onboard of the International Space Station
- 2019
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In: 36th International Cosmic Ray Conference, ICRC 2019. - : Sissa Medialab Srl.
-
Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Mini-EUSO will observe the Earth in the UV range (300 - 400 nm) offering the opportunity to study a variety of atmospheric events such as Transient Luminous Events (TLEs), meteors and marine bioluminescence. Furthermore it aims to search for Ultra High Energy Cosmic Rays (UHECR) above 1021 eV and Strange Quark Matter (SQM). The detector is expected to be launched to the International Space Station in August 2019 and look at the Earth in nadir mode from the UV-transparent window of the Zvezda module of the International Space Station. The instrument comprises a compact telescope with a large field of view (44?), based on an optical system employing two Fresnel lenses for light collection. The light is focused onto an array of 36 multi-anode photomultiplier tubes (MAPMT), for a total of 2304 pixels and the resulting signal is converted into digital, processed and stored via the electronics subsystems on-board. In addition to the main detector, Mini-EUSO contains two ancillary cameras[4] for complementary measurements in the near infrared (1500 - 1600 nm) and visible (400 - 780 nm) range and also a 8 × 8 SiPM imaging array.
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| 10. |
- Miyamoto, H, et al.
(author)
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Space debris detection and tracking with the techniques of cosmic ray physics
- 2019
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In: 36th International Cosmic Ray Conference, ICRC 2019. - : Sissa Medialab Srl.
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Space Debris (SD) consist of non-operational artificial objects orbiting around the Earth, which could possibly damage space vehicles, such as the International Space Station (ISS) or other manned spacecrafts. The vast majority of such objects are cm-sized, not catalogued and usually the tracking data are not precise enough. Here we present the feasibility study of SD detection and tracking with techniques usually employed in cosmic-ray physics. For this purpose, we have evaluated the possibility of using Mini-EUSO, a space-borne fluorescence telescope to be deployed on the ISS, to track SD illuminated by the Sun. By means of ESAF (EUSO Simulation and analysis Framework) simulation and by developing the trigger algorithms, we estimated the minimum size and maximum distances of detectable SD. We then studied the number of possible SD detections using an ESA software called MASTER (Meteoroid and SD Terrestrial Environment Reference). With the Mini-EUSO Engineering Model (Mini-EUSO EM), we performed some measurements to estimate the reflectance of the most common SD materials and to demonstrate the ability of Mini-EUSO to detect SD events. We also performed some tests in open-sky conditions, identifying and tracking fast-moving objects. In particular, the detection of a rocket body allowed us to confirm the simulation outcomes predictions and the expected performance of the detector.
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