Development of a cosmic ray oriented trigger for the fluorescence telescope on EUSO-SPB2

Journal Article · 19 December 2021 · Advances in Space Research

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.asr.2021.12.028 · OSTI ID:2422926

Filippatos, George ^[1]; Battisti, Matteo ^[2]; Belov, Alexander ^[3]; Bertaina, Mario ^[2]; Bisconti, Francesca ^[2]; Eser, Johannes ^[4]; Mignone, Marco ^[5]; Sarazin, Fred ^[1]; Wiencke, Lawrence ^[1]

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1. Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO (United States)
2. Univ. degli Studi di Torino (Italy); Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN), Torino (Italy)
3. Moscow State Univ., Moscow (Russian Federation)
4. Univ. of Chicago, IL (United States)
5. Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN), Torino (Italy)

The Extreme Universe Space Observatory on a Super Pressure Balloon 2 (EUSO-SPB2), in preparation, aims to make the first observations of Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Rays (UHECRs) from near space using optical techniques. EUSO-SPB2 will prototype instrumentation for future satellite-based missions, including the Probe of Extreme Multi-Messenger Astrophysics (POEMMA) and K-EUSO. The payload will consist of two telescopes. The first is a Cherenkov telescope (CT) being developed to quantify the background for future below-the-limb very high energy (E 10 PeV) astrophysical neutrino observations, and the second is a fluorescence telescope (FT) being developed for detection of UHECRs. The FT will consist of a Schmidt telescope, and a 6192 pixel ultraviolet camera with an integration time of 1.05 s. The first step in the data acquisition process for the FT is a hardware level trigger in order to decide which data to record. In order to maximize the number of UHECR induced extensive air showers (EASs) which can be detected, a novel trigger algorithm has been developed based on the intricacies and limitations of the detector. Finally, the expected performance of the trigger has been characterized by simulations and, pending hardware verification, shows that EUSO-SPB2 is well positioned to attempt the first near-space observation of UHECRs via optical techniques.

• Research Organization: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC)
• Sponsoring Organization: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA); USDOE
• Grant/Contract Number: AC02-05CH11231
• OSTI ID: 2422926
• Journal Information: Advances in Space Research, Journal Name: Advances in Space Research Journal Issue: 9 Vol. 70; ISSN 0273-1177
• Publisher: ElsevierCopyright Statement
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English