A Review of the EUSO-Balloon Pathfinder for the JEM-EUSO ProgramShow others and affiliations
2022 (English)In: Space Science Reviews, ISSN 0038-6308, E-ISSN 1572-9672, Vol. 218, no 1, article id 3Article, review/survey (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
EUSO-Balloon is a pathfinder for JEM-EUSO, the mission concept of a spaceborne observatory which is designed to observe Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Ray (UHECR)-induced Extensive Air Showers (EAS) by detecting their UltraViolet (UV) light tracks "from above." On August 25, 2014, EUSO-Balloon was launched from Timmins Stratospheric Balloon Base (Ontario, Canada) by the balloon division of the French Space Agency CNES. After reaching a floating altitude of 38 km, EUSO-Balloon imaged the UV light in the wavelength range similar to 290-500 nm for more than 5 hours using the key technologies of JEM-EUSO. The flight allowed a good understanding of the performance of the detector to be developed, giving insights into possible improvements to be applied to future missions. A detailed measurement of the photoelectron counts in different atmospheric and ground conditions was achieved. By means of the simulation of the instrument response and by assuming atmospheric models, the absolute intensity of diffuse light was estimated. The instrument detected hundreds of laser tracks with similar characteristics to EASs shot by a helicopter flying underneath. These are the first recorded laser tracks measured from a fluorescence detector looking down on the atmosphere. The reconstruction of the direction of the laser tracks was performed. In this work, a review of the main results obtained by EUSO-Balloon is presented as well as implications for future space-based observations of UHECRs.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Springer Nature , 2022. Vol. 218, no 1, article id 3
Keywords [en]
JEM-EUSO, Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Rays, Extensive air showers, Stratospheric Balloon
National Category
Astronomy, Astrophysics and Cosmology
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-308640DOI: 10.1007/s11214-022-00870-xISI: 000749525700001PubMedID: 35153338Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85124292919OAI: oai:DiVA.org:kth-308640DiVA, id: diva2:1637947
Note
QC 20220215
2022-02-152022-02-152022-09-23Bibliographically approved