| 1. |
- Abe, S., et al.
(author)
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Developments and results in the context of the JEM-EUSO program obtained with the ESAF simulation and analysis framework
- 2023
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In: European Physical Journal C. - : Springer Nature. - 1434-6044 .- 1434-6052. ; 83:11
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)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.
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| 2. |
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| 3. |
- Bertaina, Mario Edoardo, et al.
(author)
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Implications of Mini-EUSO measurements for a space-based observation of UHECRs
- 2023
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In: Proceedings 6th International Symposium on Ultra High Energy Cosmic Rays (UHECR). - : EDP Sciences.
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)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.
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| 4. |
- Bertaina, M., et al.
(author)
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The Mini-EUSO telescope on board the International Space Station: first results in view of UHECR measurements from space
- 2023
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In: 27th European Cosmic Ray Symposium, ECRS 2022. - : Sissa Medialab Srl.
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)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.
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| 5. |
- Casolino, M., et al.
(author)
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Observation of night-time emissions of the Earth in the near UV range from the International Space Station with the Mini-EUSO detector
- 2023
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In: Remote Sensing of Environment. - : Elsevier BV. - 0034-4257 .- 1879-0704. ; 284, s. 113336-
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)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.
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| 6. |
- Marcelli, L., et al.
(author)
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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
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In: Data in Brief. - : Elsevier BV. - 2352-3409. ; 48
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)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.
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| 7. |
- Marcelli, L., et al.
(author)
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Integration, qualification, and launch of the Mini-EUSO telescope on board the ISS
- 2023
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In: Rendiconti Lincei SCIENZE FISICHE E NATURALI. - : Springer Nature. - 2037-4631 .- 1720-0776. ; 34:1, s. 23-35
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)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.
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| 8. |
- Miyamoto, Hiroko, et al.
(author)
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An end-to-end in-flight calibration of Mini-EUSO detector
- 2023
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In: Proceeding 6th international symposium on Ultra High Energy Cosmic Rays (UHECR). - : EDP Sciences.
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)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.
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