Implications of Mini-EUSO measurements for a space-based observation of UHECRs

¹ Department of Physics, University of Turin, V. P. Giuria 1, 10125 Turin, Italy
² INFN Section of Turin, Via P. Giuria 1, 10125 Turin, Italy
³ INAF Astrophysics Observatory of Turin, Via Osservatorio 20, 10025 Pino Torinese, Italy
⁴ Faculty of Physics, M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University, ul. Kolmogorova 1(2), 119234 Moscow, Russia
⁵ Skobeltsyn Institute of Nuclear Physics, Lomonosov Moscow State Univ., ul. Kolmogorova 1(2), 119991 Moscow, Russia
⁶ INFN Section of Rome Tor Vergata, Via della Ricerca Scientifica 1, 00133 Rome, Italy
⁷ Department of Physics, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Via della Ricerca Scientifica 1, 00133 Rome, Italy
⁸ RIKEN, 2-1 Hirosawa Wako, Saitama 351-0198, Japan
⁹ Université Paris Cité, CNRS, Astroparticule et Cosmologie, 10 Rue Alice Domon et Léonie Duquet, 75013 Paris, France
¹⁰ KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Brinellvg¨en 8, 114 28 Stockholm, Sweden
¹¹ Technical University of Munich, Arcisstraße 21, 80333 Munich, Germany
¹² S.P. Korolev Rocket and Space Corporation Energia, Lenin str., 4a Korolev, 141070 Moscow area, Russiav
¹³ ASI, Italian Space Agency, Via del Politecnico, 00133 Rome, Italy
¹⁴ Omega, Ecole Polytechnique, CNRS/IN2P3, Rte de Saclay, 91120 Palaiseau, France
¹⁵ Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, The University of Chicago, 5640 S. Ellis Avenue, Chicago IL 60637, US
¹⁶ Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Hermann-von-Helmholtz-Platz 1, 76344 Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen, Germany
¹⁷ Department of Physics, Colorado School of Mines, 1523 Illinois St., Golden CO 80401, US
¹⁸ INFN National Laboratories of Frascati, Via Enrico Fermi 54, 00044 Frascati, Italy
¹⁹ Department of Physics, Konan University, 8 Chome-9-1 Okamoto, Higashinada Ward Kobe, Hyogo 658-8501, Japan
²⁰ National Centre for Nuclear Research, ul. Pasteura 7, 02-093 Warszawa, Poland
²¹ Gran Sasso Science Institute, Viale Francesco Crispi 7, 67100 L’Aquila, Italy
²² Faculty of Physics, University of Warsaw, Ludwika Pasteura 5, 02-093 Warsaw, Poland

^* Corresponding author: bertaina@to.infn.it

Published online: 28 April 2023

Abstract

Mini-EUSO is the first mission of the JEM-EUSO program on board the International Space Station. It was launched in 2019 and it is currently located in the Russian section (Zvezda module) of the station and viewing our planet from a nadir-facing UV-transparent window. The instrument is based on the concept of the original JEM-EUSO mission and consists of 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° × 44°. Mini-EUSO can map the night-time Earth in the near UV range (predominantly between 290 nm and 430 nm), with a spatial resolution of about 6.3 km and different temporal resolutions of 2.5 µ, 320 µs and 41 ms. Mini-EUSO observations are extremely important to better assess the potential of a space-based detector in studying Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Rays (UHECRs) such as K-EUSO and POEMMA. In this contribution we focus the attention on UV measurements, the observation of clouds and of certain categories of events that Mini-EUSO triggers with the shortest temporal resolution. We place them in the context of UHECR observations from space, namely the estimation of exposure and sensitivity to Extensive Air Showers.