Searcharxiv⌕ Search

arXiv subjects

E. Reali

Publications and source records attributed to E. Reali.

14 recordsLinked to original sources
arXiv2026

POEMMA-Balloon with Radio: A multi-messenger, multi-detector balloon payload

A review of the current status of the field of Ultra-High-Energy Cosmic Ray (UHECR) including a summary of remaining open questions was presented in the white paper "Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Rays: at the Intersection of the Cosmic and Energy Frontiers" (Astropart. Phys. 147 (2023) 102794; arXiv:2205.05845). The authors concluded that two types of next-generation detectors are needed to answer these questions: high-accuracy instruments and detectors that maximize exposure at the highest energies. The Probe Of Extreme Multi-Messenger Astrophysics (POEMMA), a proposed dual-satellite observatory, exemplifies the latter class and is designed to increase statistics of the highest-energy cosmic rays and to detect very-high-energy neutrinos following multi-messenger alerts. POEMMA-Balloon with Radio (PBR) implements a compact, balloon-borne version of the POEMMA concept, adapted for a Super-Pressure Balloon flight from Wanaka, New Zealand, with an expected campaign exceeding 20 days. PBR couples a wide field-of-view Schmidt telescope and a hybrid optical focal surface with a dedicated radio instrument to deliver simultaneous, complementary measurements of extensive air showers. The mission will validate the fluorescence detection strategy from space and raise technology readiness for a POEMMA-like space mission by observing UHECR-induced fluorescence light from suborbital altitudes, obtaining the first simultaneous optical Cherenkov and radio observations of high-altitude horizontal air showers above the cosmic-ray knee (E>3PeV), enabling energy-spectrum and composition studies at the PeV scale, and performing follow-ups of multi-messenger alerts to search for very-high-energy neutrinos via upward-going air showers. This paper summarizes the PBR payload and its expected performance.

astro-ph.IM↗
arXiv2022

Observation of night-time emissions of the Earth in the near UV range from the International Space Station with the Mini-EUSO detector

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 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 (between 290-430 nm) with a spatial resolution of about 6.3 km (full field of view of 44{\deg}) 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 $\simeq$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 natural and artificial light, we also estimate the observation live-time of future UHECR detectors.

astro-ph.IM↗
arXiv2022

Integration and qualification of the Mini-EUSO telescope on board the ISS

Mini-EUSO is a compact telescope ($37 \times 37 \times 62$~cm$^3$) currently hosted on board the International Space Station. Mini-EUSO is devoted primarily to study Ultra High Energy Cosmic Rays (UHECR) above $10^{21}$~eV but also to search for trange Quark Matter (SQM), to observe Transient Luminous Event (TLE) in upper atmosphere, meteoroids, sea bioluminescence and space debris tracking. Mini-EUSO consist of a main optical system, the Photo Detector Module (PDM), sensitive to UV spectrum ($300\div400$~nm) and several ancillary sensors comprising a visible ($400\div780$~nm) and NIR ($1500\div1600$~nm) cameras and a $8 \times 8$ channels Multi-Pixel Photon Counter Silicon PhotoMultiplier (MPPC SiPM) array which will increase the Tecnological Readyness Level of this ultrafast imaging sensor. Mini-EUSO belongs to a novel set of missions committed to evaluate, for the first time, the capability of observing Cosmic Rays from a space-based. The instrumentation, space-qualified tests will be shown.

astro-ph.IM↗
arXiv2022

Towards observations of nuclearites in Mini-EUSO

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 -- hypothetical lumps of strange quark matter that could be stabler and denser than the nuclear matter. In this paper, we show potential limits on the flux of nuclearites after collecting 42 hours of observations data.

astro-ph.HE↗
arXiv2021

EUSO@TurLab project in view of Mini-EUSO and EUSO-SPB2 missions

The TurLab facility is a laboratory, equipped with a 5 m diameter and 1 m depth rotating tank, located in the fourth basement level of the Physics Department of the University of Turin. In the past years, we have used the facility to perform experiments related to the observations of Extreme Energy Cosmic Rays (EECRs) from space using the fluorescence technique for JEM- EUSO missions with the main objective to test the response of the trigger logic. In the missions, the diffuse night brightness and artificial and natural light sources can vary significantly in time and space in the Field of View (FoV) of the telescope. Therefore, it is essential to verify the detector performance and test the trigger logic under such an environment. By means of the tank rotation, a various terrestrial surface with the different optical characteristics such as ocean, land, forest, desert and clouds, as well as artificial and natural light sources such as city lights, lightnings and meteors passing by the detector FoV one after the other is reproduced. The fact that the tank located in a very dark place enables the tests under an optically controlled environment. Using the Mini-EUSO data taken since 2019 onboard the ISS, we will report on the comparison between TurLab and ISS measurements in view of future experiments at TurLab. Moreover, in the forthcoming months we will start testing the trigger logic of the EUSO-SPB2 mission. We report also on the plans and status for this purpose.

astro-ph.IM↗
arXiv2021

Simulations studies for the Mini-EUSO detector

Mini-EUSO is a mission of the JEM-EUSO program flying onboard the International Space Station since August 2019. Since the first data acquisition in October 2019, more than 35 sessions have been performed for a total of 52 hours of observations. The detector has been observing Earth at night-time in the UV range and detected a wide variety of transient sources all of which have been modelled through Monte Carlo simulations. Mini-EUSO is also capable of detecting meteors and potentially space debris and we performed simulations for such events to estimate their impact on future missions for cosmic ray science from space. We show here examples of the simulation work done in this framework to analyse the Mini-EUSO data. The expected response of Mini-EUSO with respect to ultra high energy cosmic ray showers has been studied. The efficiency curve of Mini-EUSO as a function of primary energy has been estimated and the energy threshold for Cosmic Rays has been placed to be above 10^{21} eV. We compared the morphology of several transient events detected during the mission with cosmic ray simulations and excluded that they can be due to cosmic ray showers. To validate the energy threshold of the detector, a system of ground based flashers is being used for end-to-end calibration purposes. We therefore implemented a parameterisation of such flashers into the JEM-EUSO simulation framework and studied the response of the detector with respect to such sources.

astro-ph.IM↗
arXiv2020

Mini-EUSO mission to study Earth UV emissions on board the ISS

Mini-EUSO is a telescope observing the Earth in the ultraviolet band from the International Space Station. It is a part of the JEM-EUSO program, paving the way to future larger missions, such as KEUSO and POEMMA, devoted primarily to the observation of Ultra High Energy Cosmic Rays from space. Mini-EUSO is 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. Other 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. Mini-EUSO will 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 microseconds, through a nadir-facing UV-transparent window in the Russian Zvezda module. The instrument, launched on August 22, 2019 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 degrees. 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 months of operations.

astro-ph.IM↗
arXiv2019

Mini-EUSO experiment to study UV emission of terrestrial and astrophysical origin onboard of the International Space Station

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 $10^{21}$ 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 ($44^{\circ}$), 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 for complementary measurements in the near infrared (1500 - 1600 nm) and visible (400 - 780 nm) range and also a 8x8 SiPM imaging array.

astro-ph.IM↗
arXiv2019

Space Debris detection and tracking with the techniques of cosmic ray physics

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.

astro-ph.IM↗
arXiv2019

Mini-EUSO engineering model: tests in open-sky condition

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.

astro-ph.HE↗
arXiv2019

The EUSO@TurLab: Test of Mini-EUSO Engineering Model

The TurLab facility is a laboratory, equipped with a 5 m diameter and 1 m depth rotating tank, located in the Physics Department of the University of Turin. Originally, it was mainly built to study systems of different scales where rotation plays a key role in the fluid behavior such as in atmospheric and oceanic flows. In the past few years the TurLab facility has been used to perform experiments related to the observation of Extreme Energy Cosmic Rays (EECRs) from space using the fluorescence technique. For example, in the case of the JEM-EUSO mission, where the diffuse night brightness and artificial light sources can vary significantly in time and space inside the Field of View of the telescope. The Focal Surface of Mini-EUSO Engineering Model (Mini-EUSO EM) with the level 1 (L1) and 2 (L2) trigger logics implemented in the Photo-Detector Module (PDM) has been tested at TurLab. Tests related to the possibility of using an EUSO-like detector for other type of applications such as Space Debris (SD) monitoring and imaging detector have also been pursued. The tests and results obtained within the EUSO@TurLab Project on these different topics are presented.

astro-ph.IM↗
arXiv2001

In-flight performances of SilEye-2 Experiment and cosmic ray abundances inside space station Mir

Cosmic ray measurements performed with the instrument SilEye-2 on Mir space station are presented. SilEye-2 is a silicon detector telescope for the study of the causes of Light Flashes perception by astronauts. As a stand-alone device, it monitors in the short and long term the radiation composition inside Mir. The cosmic ray detector consists of an array of 6 active silicon strip detectors which allow nuclear identification of cosmic rays up to Iron. The device was operational for more than 1000 hours in the years 1998-2000, measuring also several Solar Particle Events. In this work we present the in-flight performance of the instrument and nuclear abundance data from Boron to Silicon above ~150 MeV/n inside Mir.

astro-ph↗
arXiv2000

In-Orbit Performance of the Space Telescope NINA and GCR Flux Measurements

The NINA apparatus, on board the Russian satellite Resurs-01 n.4, has been in polar orbit since 1998 July 10, at an altitude of 840 km. Its main scientific task is to study the galactic, solar and anomalous components of cosmic rays in the energy interval 10--200 MeV/n. In this paper we present a description of the instrument and its basic operating modes. Measurements of Galactic Cosmic Ray spectra will also be shown.

astro-ph↗