Overview and First Results of EUSO-SPB2

Abstract

Observing ultra-high energy cosmic rays (UHECR) and very high energy (VHE) neutrinos from space is a promising way to measure their extremely low fluxes by significantly increasing the observed volume. The Extreme Universe Space Observatory on a Super Pressure Balloon 2 (EUSO-SPB2), the next, most advanced pathfinder for such a mission, was launched May 13th 2023 from Wanaka New Zealand. The pioneering EUSO-SPB2 payload flew a Fluorescence Telescope (FT) with a PMT camera pointed in nadir to record fluorescence light from cosmic ray extensive air shower (EAS) with energies above 1 EeV, and a Cherenkov telescope (CT) with a silicon photomultiplier focal surface for observing Cherenkov emission of cosmic ray EAS with energies above 1 PeV with an above-the-limb geometry and of PeV-scale EAS initiated by neutrino-sourced tau decay. As the CT is a novel instrument, optical background measurements for space neutrino observation are an important goal of the mission. Any data collected during the mission will influence and improve the development of a space-based multi-messenger observatory such as the Probe of Extreme Multi-Messenger Astrophysics (POEMMA). We present an overview of the EUSO-SPB2 mission and its science goals and summarize results as available, from the 2023 flight.

Proceeding 38th ICRC 2023 Nagoya, Japan

References in corpus (7)

• The EUSO-SPB2 Cherenkov Telescope -- Flight Performance and Preliminary Results
• EUSO-SPB2 Fluorescence Telescope in-flight performance and preliminary results
• Overview of the EUSO-SPB2 Target of Opportunity program using the Cherenkov Telescope
• Neutrino Target-of-Opportunity Sky Coverage and Scheduler for EUSO-SPB2
• Commissioning, Calibration, and Performance of the Cherenkov Telescope on EUSO-SPB2
• EUSO-SPB2 Fluorescence Telescope Calibration and Field Tests
• Machine Learning for the EUSO-SPB2 Fluorescence Telescope Data Analysis

Cited by in corpus (7)

• Developments and results in the context of the JEM-EUSO program obtained with the ESAF Simulation and Analysis Framework
• Overview of the EUSO-SPB2 Target of Opportunity program using the Cherenkov Telescope
• Neutrino Target-of-Opportunity Sky Coverage and Scheduler for EUSO-SPB2
• Implications of Mini-EUSO measurements for a space-based observation of UHECRs
• The past and future 20-years endeavor for discovering origins of ultra-high energy cosmic rays -- Rapporteur's summary of cosmic ray indirect --
• Neural Network Based Approach to Recognition of Meteor Tracks in the Mini-EUSO Telescope Data
• The Data Processor of the SPB2 Fluorescence Telescope: in flight performance