The CALorimetric Electron Telescope (CALET) for high-energy astroparticle physics on the International Space Station

¹ Aoyama Gakuin University, Japan
² CRESST/NASA/GSFC and Universities Space Research. Association, USA
³ CRESST/NASA/GSFC and University of Maryland, USA
⁴ Hirosaki University, Japan
⁵ Ibaraki National College of Technology, Japan
⁶ Ibaraki University, Japan
⁷ ICRR, University of Tokyo, Japan
⁸ JAXA/SEUC, Japan
⁹ JAXA/ISAS, Japan
¹⁰ Kanagawa University, Japan
¹¹ KEK, Japan
¹² Louisiana State University, USA
¹³ Nagoya University, Japan
¹⁴ NASA/GSFC, USA
¹⁵ National Institute of Polar Research, Japan
¹⁶ National Institute of Radiological Sciences, Japan
¹⁷ Nihon University, Japan
¹⁸ Ritsumeikan University, Japan
¹⁹ Saitama University, Japan
²⁰ Shibaura Institute of Technology, Japan
²¹ Shinshu University, Japan
²² St. Marianna University School of Medicine, Japan
²³ The University of Tokyo, Japan
²⁴ Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan
²⁵ University of Denver, USA
²⁶ University of Florence, IFAC (CNR) and INFN, Italy
²⁷ University of Padova and INFN, Italy
²⁸ University of Pisa and INFN, Italy
²⁹ University of Rome Tor Vergata and INFN, Italy
³⁰ University of Siena and INFN, Italy
³¹ Waseda University, Japan
³² Washington University - St. Louis, USA
³³ Yokohama National University, Japan

^a Corresponding author, e-mail: s.ricciarini@ifac.cnr.it

Published online: 29 May 2015

Abstract

The CALorimetric Electron Telescope (CALET) is a space experiment, currently under development by Japan in collaboration with Italy and the United States, which will measure the flux of cosmic-ray electrons (and positrons) up to 20 TeV energy, of gamma rays up to 10 TeV, of nuclei with Z from 1 to 40 up to 1 PeV energy, and will detect gamma-ray bursts in the 7 keV to 20 MeV energy range during a 5 year mission. These measurements are essential to investigate possible nearby astrophysical sources of high energy electrons, study the details of galactic particle propagation and search for dark matter signatures. The main detector of CALET, the Calorimeter, consists of a module to identify the particle charge, followed by a thin imaging calorimeter (3 radiation lengths) with tungsten plates interleaving scintillating fibre planes, and a thick energy measuring calorimeter (27 radiation lengths) composed of lead tungstate logs. The Calorimeter has the depth, imaging capabilities and energy resolution necessary for excellent separation between hadrons, electrons and gamma rays. The instrument is currently being prepared for launch (expected in 2015) to the International Space Station ISS, for installation on the Japanese Experiment Module - Exposure Facility (JEM-EF).