The Extreme Universe Space Observatory on a Super Pressure Balloon 2 (EUSO-SPB2), in preparation, aims to make the first observations of Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Rays (UHECRs) from near space using optical techniques. EUSO-SPB2 will prototype instrumentation for future satellite-based missions, including the Probe of Extreme Multi-Messenger Astrophysics (POEMMA) and K-EUSO. The payload will consist of two telescopes. The first is a Cherenkov telescope (CT) being developed to quantify the background for future below-the-limb very high energy (E>10 PeV) astrophysical neutrino observations, and the second is a fluorescence telescope (FT) being developed for detection of UHECRs. The FT will consist of a Schmidt telescope, and a 6192 pixel ultraviolet camera with an integration time of 1.05 microseconds. The first step in the data acquisition process for the FT is a hardware level trigger in order to decide which data to record. In order to maximize the number of UHECR induced extensive air showers (EASs) which can be detected, a novel trigger algorithm has been developed based on the intricacies and limitations of the detector. The expected performance of the trigger has been characterized by simulations and, pending hardware verification, shows that EUSO-SPB2 is well positioned to attempt the first near-space observation of UHECRs via optical techniques.
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-EU…
EUSO-TA是探测超高能宇宙射线的天基JEM-EUSO飞行任务的一个探路者实验。EUSO-TA是一个高分辨率荧光望远镜,安装在望远镜阵列(TA)实验的Black Rock Mesa荧光探测器前面,位于美国犹他州。在技术援助地点,安装了一个用于校准目的的中央激光设施,因为它发射具有已知能量和几何形状的激光束。EUSO-TA由两个1 $\mbox{m}^2$菲涅尔透镜组成,视场为10.5°,将光线聚焦在光电探测器模块(PDM)上。PDM目前由36个Hamamatsu多阳极光电倍增管(MAPMT)组成,每个管有64个通道。前端读出由36个ASIC执行,两个FPGA板将数据发送到CPU和存储系统。该探测器于2015年2月安装。使用上述光源进行了测试,并对宇宙射线事件以及具有不同星等和颜色指数的恒星进行了观测。数据采集由TA荧光检测器触发,尽管自触发算法目前处于开发和测试的最后阶段。利用TA的大视场和表面探测器,重建了宇宙线簇射事件,并利用EUSO-Offline模拟了EUSO-TA探测器的响应。检测到的事件的模拟与数据进行比较,结果显示在这项工作中。
The Extreme Universe Space Observatory on a Super Pressure Balloon II (EUSO-SPB2) is a second generation stratospheric balloon instrument for the detection of Ultra High Energy Cosmic Rays (UHECRs, E > 1 EeV) via the fluorescence technique and of Very High Energy (VHE, E > 10 PeV) neutrinos via Cherenkov emission. EUSO-SPB2 is a pathfinder mission for instruments like the proposed Probe Of Extreme Multi-Messenger Astrophysics (POEMMA). The purpose of such a space-based observatory is to measure UHECRs and UHE neutrinos with high statistics and uniform exposure. EUSO-SPB2 is designed with two S…
The next generation of ultra-high energy cosmic ray (UHECR) and very-high energy neutrino observatories will address the challenge of the extremely low fluxes of these particles at the highest energies. EUSO-SPB2 (Extreme Universe Space Observatory on a Super Pressure Balloon2) is designed to prepare space missions to address this challenge. EUSO-SPB2 is equipped with 2 telescopes: the Fluorescence Telescope, which will point downwards and measure fluorescence emission from UHECR air showers with an energy above 2EeV, and the Cherenkov Telescope (CT), which will point towards the Earth's limb …
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 $\sim$1-2.5 s to reconstruct the entire shower profile with high precision. The detector consisting of $\sim$$10^5$ independent pixels will allow a spatial resolution of $\sim$700 m on gro…
JEM-EUSO is an international program for the development of space based Ultra High Cosmic Ray observatories. The program consists of a series of missions which are either under development or in the data analysis phase. The instruments consist of wide field of view telescopes, which operate in the UV range, designed to detect the fluorescence light emitted by extended air showers in the atmosphere. We describe the simulation software ESAF and show the physical assumptions done in it. We present here the implementation of the POEMMA, K-EUSO, TUS, Mini-EUSO, EUSO-SPB and EUSO-TA detectors in the…
In this paper we present the Data Processor (DP) of EUSO-SPB2 (Extreme Universe Space Observatory on a Super Pressure Balloon, mission two) telescopes . The EUSO-SPB2 is the continuation of the JEM-EUSO science program on ultra-long duration balloons, started with the EUSO-SPB1 mission. The EUSO-SPB2 will host on-board two telescopes. One is a fluorescence telescope designed to detect high energy cosmic rays via the UV fluorescence emission of the showers in the atmosphere; the other one measures direct Cherenkov light emission from lower energy cosmic rays and other optical backgrounds for co…
EUSO-TA is a ground-based telescope, located at the Black Rock Mesa site of Telescope Array (TA), Utah, USA. The main aim of the instrument is observation of Ultra High Energy Cosmic Rays through detection of ultraviolet light generated by cosmic-ray showers. EUSO-TA consists of two, 1 m2 Fresnel lenses with a field of view of about 11x11 deg. Light is focused on the Photo Detector Module composed of 36 Hamamatsu multi-anode photomultipliers, for a total of 2304 channels. During operations, the telescope is housed in a shed located in front of the TA Fluorescence Detector. We present the resul…
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 t…
The origin and nature of Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Rays (UHECRs) remain unsolved in contemporary astroparticle physics. To give an answer to these questions is rather challenging because of the extremely low flux of a few per km$^2$ per century at extreme energies (i.e. E $>$ 5$\times$10$^{19}$ eV). The central objective of the JEM-EUSO program, Joint Experiment Missions for Extreme Universe Space Observatory, is the realisation of an ambitious space-based mission devoted to UHECR science. A super-wide-field telescope will look down from space onto the night sky to detect UV photons emitted fro…
The origin of Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Rays (UHECRs) remains unsolved in contemporary astroparticle physics. The objective of the JEM-EUSO program is the realization of a space mission devoted to UHECR physics. Several detectors have been developed in this framework or are under development. EUSO-TA, installed at the Telescope Array site in Utah in 2013, is in operation. It has detected 9 UHECRs in coincidence with Telescope Array fluorescence detector at Black Rock Mesa. EUSO-Balloon flew on board a stratospheric balloon in August 2014. It measured the UV intensity on forests, lakes and citie…
Macroscopic dark matter (aka macros) constitutes a broad class of alternatives to particulate dark matter. We calculate the luminosity produced by the passage of a single macro as a function of its physical cross section. A general detection scheme is developed for measuring the fluorescence caused by a passing macro in the atmosphere that is applicable to any ground based or space based Fluorescence Detecting (FD) telescopes. In particular, we employ this scheme to constrain the parameter space ($σ_{x} \mbox{ vs} \mbox{ M}_{x}$) of macros than can be probed by the Pierre Auger Observatory and…
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 investi…
The JEM-EUSO (Joint Experiment Missions for Extreme Universe Space Observatory) program aims at the realization of the ultra-high energy cosmic ray (UHECR) observation using wide field of view fluorescence detectors in orbit. Ultra-violet (UV) light emission from the atmosphere such as airglow and anthropogenic light on the Earth's surface are the main background for the space-based UHECR observations. The Mini-EUSO mission has been operated on the International Space Station (ISS) since 2019 which is the first space-based experiment for the program. The Mini-EUSO instrument consists of a 25 c…
Mini-EUSO is a small orbital telescope with a field of view of $44^{\circ}\times 44^{\circ}$, observing the night-time Earth mostly in 320-420 nm band. Its time resolution spanning from microseconds (triggered) to milliseconds (untriggered) and more than $300\times 300$ 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 -- hypoth…
超高能宇宙射线(UHECR)的研究在过去的二十年中取得了很大的进展。其中包括发现了5 x 10^19 eV附近的光谱截止值和较低能量下的复杂结构,以及关于宇宙射线的组成作为能量函数的越来越精确的信息。技术上的重大改进,包括广泛的表面探测器阵列和高分辨率空气荧光探测器,有助于促进这一进展。我们讨论了该领域的现状,包括有关光谱结构的性质,与我们理解的组成相关的系统问题,以及最高能量下各向异性的新证据。我们审查的前景升级和未来的天文台,包括望远镜阵列,皮埃尔俄歇和JEM-EUSO和其他空间为基础的建议,并讨论有前途的新技术的基础上,从广泛的空气阵雨产生的UHECR无线电发射。
TUS (Tracking Ultraviolet Set-up), the first orbital telescope of ultra-high energy cosmic rays (UHECRs), has demonstrated that instruments of this kind have much broader capabilities and can also detect meteors, transient luminous events, anthropogenic glow and other processes taking place in Earth atmosphere in the UV frequency range. In this short letter, we address the question if an orbital UHECR detector can also register gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) via the fluorescent glow of irradiated nocturnal atmosphere. An analysis of the Fermi GBM catalog of GRBs and properties of several active and p…
Ultra-high energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) are the most energetic particles observed and serve as a probe of the extreme universe. A key question to understanding the violent processes responsible for their acceleration is identifying which classes of astrophysical objects (active galactic nuclei or starburst galaxies, for example) correlate to their arrival directions. While source clustering is limited by deflections in the Galactic magnetic field, at the highest energies the scattering angles are sufficiently low to retain correlation with source catalogues. While there have been several studie…
TUS (Tracking Ultraviolet Set-up) is the world's first orbital detector of ultra-high-energy cosmic rays (UHECRs). It was launched into orbit on 28th April 2016 as a part of the scientific payload of the Lomonosov satellite. The main aim of the mission was to test the technique of measuring the ultraviolet fluorescence and Cherenkov radiation of extensive air showers generated by primary cosmic rays with energies above ~100 EeV in the Earth atmosphere from space. During its operation for 1.5 years, TUS registered almost 80,000 events with a few of them satisfying conditions anticipated for ext…