The Mini-EUSO telescope on board the International Space Station: Launch and first results
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Date
2022-03-18
Publication Type
Conference Paper
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yes
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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 1021 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 μs, 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◦. 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.
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Publication status
published
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Editor
Book title
Proceedings of 37th International Cosmic Ray Conference
Journal / series
Volume
395
Pages / Article No.
354
Publisher
Sissa Medialab
Event
37th International Cosmic Ray Conference (ICRC 2021)
Edition / version
Methods
Software
Geographic location
Date collected
Date created
Subject
Cosmic rays; Cosmology; Earth (planet); Infrared devices; Lenses; Optical systems; Particle beams; Photomultipliers; space debris; Space stations
Organisational unit
02717 - Institut für Atmosphäre und Klima / Inst. Atmospheric and Climate Science