PoS - Proceedings of Science
Volume 395 - 37th International Cosmic Ray Conference (ICRC2021) - CRI - Cosmic Ray Indirect
The Mini-EUSO telescope on board the International Space Station: Launch and first results
M. Casolino*, J.H. Adams Jr., A. Anzalone, E. Arnone, D. Barghini, S. Bartocci, M. Battisti, R. Bellotti, M. Bertaina, F. Bisconti, S. Blin-Bondil, A. Bruno, G. Cambié, R. Caruso, M. Casolino, C. Cassardo, A. Castellina, O. Catalano, A. Cellino, R. Colalillo, L. Conti, G. Cotto, L. del Peral, A. Diaz Damian, F. Fenu, S. Ferrarese, C. Fornaro, P. Galeotti, D. Gardiol, A. Golzio, F. Guarino, J. Hernández Carretero, F. Isgrò, J.F. Krizmanic, A. Kusenko, M. Manfrin, M. Mese, H. Miyamoto, A. Monaco, A. Neronov, A. Pagliaro, P.E. Picozza, Z.E. Plebaniak, R. Prevete, G. Saccá, A. Scagliola, V. Scotti, A. Sotgiu, P. Vallania, L. Valore, C. Vigorito, P. von Ballmoos, R. Weigand Muñoz, M. Casolino, D. Barghini, M. Battisti, A. Belov, M. Bertaina, F. Bisconti, C. Blaksley, K. Bolmgren, F. Cafagna, G. Cambiè, F. Capel, T. Ebisuzaki, F. Fenu, A. Franceschi, C. Fuglesang, A. Golzio, P. Gorodetzki, F. Kajino, H. Kasuga, P.A. Klimov, V. Kungel, M. Manfrin, L. Marcelli, W. Marszał, H. Miyamoto, M. Mignone, T. Napolitano, G. Osteria, E. Parizot, P. Picozza, Z. Plebaniak, G. Prévôt, E. Reali, M. Ricci, N. Sakaki, K. Shinozaki, J. Szabelski, Y. Takizawa, S. Wada, L.R. Wiencke and L. Piotrowskiet al. (click to show)
Full text: pdf
Pre-published on: July 29, 2021
Published on: March 18, 2022
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 10$^{21}$ 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 $\mu$s, 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$^{\circ}$. 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.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.22323/1.395.0354
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