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arXiv · 2310.06209

EUSO-SPB2 Fluorescence Telescope Calibration and Field Tests

Viktoria Kungel·Matteo Battisti·George Filippatos·Tobias Heibges·Evgeny Kuznetsov·Marco Mese·Stephan S. Meyer·Etienne Parizot·Valentina Scotti·Patrick Sternberg·Lawrence Wiencke
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Abstract

The Extreme Universe Space Observatory on a Super Pressure Balloon 2 (EUSO-SPB2), successfully launched from Wanaka, New Zealand on May 13, 2022, is a precursor for a space-based astroparticle observatory such as the Probe Of Extreme Multi-Messenger Astrophysics (POEMMA). EUSO-SPB2 flew two custom telescopes. Both have UV/UV-visible sensitivity and feature Schmidt optics. The Fluorescence Telescope (FT) measures ultra-high energy cosmic rays by looking down. The \v{C}erenkov Telescope (CT) searches for neutrino signatures by looking toward Earth's limb. The two telescopes each have a 1 m diameter entrance pupil and segmented glass mirrors that collect light from extensive air showers at the PeV and EeV-scale. Here we describe the FT telescope optics together with the results of the FT field tests at the Utah Telescope Array (TA) site from August/September 2022. The FT recorded the night sky background, lasers, and artificial point sources. The field tests included an absolute photometric calibration of the FT telescope that is compared to a piece-wise laboratory calibration.

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Viktoria Kungel, Matteo Battisti, George Filippatos, Tobias Heibges, Evgeny Kuznetsov, Marco Mese, Stephan S. Meyer, Etienne Parizot, Valentina Scotti, Patrick Sternberg, Lawrence Wiencke. 2023-10-09. EUSO-SPB2 Fluorescence Telescope Calibration and Field Tests. https://doi.org/10.22323/1.444.0468

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