DAMPE space mission: first data
arXiv:1701.05046
Abstract
The DAMPE (DArk Matter Particle Explorer) satellite was launched on December 17, 2015 and started its data taking operation a few days later. DAMPE has a large geometric factor () and provides good tracking, calorimetric and charge measurements for electrons, gammas rays and nuclei. This will allow precise measurement of cosmic ray spectra from tens of up to about . In particular, the energy region between will be explored with higher precision compared to previous experiments. The various subdetectors allow an efficient identification of the electron signal over the large (mainly proton-induced) background. As a result, the all-electron spectrum will be measured with excellent resolution from few up to few , thus giving the opportunity to identify possible contribution of nearby sources. A report on the mission goals and status is presented, together with the on-orbit detector performance and the first data coming from space.
XXV ECRS 2016 Proceedings - eConf C16-09-04.3