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EUSO-SPB2: A sub-orbital cosmic ray and neutrino multi-messenger pathfinder observatory
by A. Cummings, J. Eser, G. Filippatos, A. V. Olinto, T. M. Venters, L. Wiencke
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Submission summary
| Authors (as registered SciPost users): | Johannes Eser |
| Submission information | |
|---|---|
| Preprint Link: | https://arxiv.org/abs/2208.07466v1 (pdf) |
| Date submitted: | 2022-08-22 00:25 |
| Submitted by: | Eser, Johannes |
| Submitted to: | SciPost Physics Proceedings |
| Proceedings issue: | 21st International Symposium on Very High Energy Cosmic Ray Interactions (ISVHECRI2022) |
| Ontological classification | |
|---|---|
| Academic field: | Physics |
| Specialties: |
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| Approaches: | Experimental, Observational |
Abstract
The next generation of ultra-high energy cosmic ray (UHECR) and very-high energy neutrino observatories will address the challenge of the extremely low fluxes of these particles at the highest energies. EUSO-SPB2 (Extreme Universe Space Observatory on a Super Pressure Balloon2) is designed to prepare space missions to address this challenge. EUSO-SPB2 is equipped with 2 telescopes: the Fluorescence Telescope, which will point downwards and measure fluorescence emission from UHECR air showers with an energy above 2EeV, and the Cherenkov Telescope (CT), which will point towards the Earth's limb and measure direct Cherenkov emission from cosmic rays with energies above 1PeV, verifying the technique. Pointed below the limb, the CT will search for Cherenkov emission produced by neutrino-sourced tau-lepton decays above 10PeV energies and study backgrounds for such events. The EUSO-SPB2 mission will provide pioneering observations and technical milestones on the path towards a space-based multi-messenger observatory.
Current status:
Reports on this Submission
Report #1 by Anonymous (Referee 1) on 2023-1-12 (Invited Report)
- Cite as: Anonymous, Report on arXiv:2208.07466v1, delivered 2023-01-12, doi: 10.21468/SciPost.Report.5885
Strengths
See "report"
Weaknesses
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Report
This proceeding provides a comprehensive overview of the instrumentation, the expected signal signatures and their rates, and the science case of the EUSO-SPB2 mission.
The description of the future instrumentation of the SPB2 gondola with EUSO R&D components is convincing and the explanations of the design decisions are reasonable to follow. The use of new types of SiPMs (even in the stratosphere in this case!) could be highlighted a bit more, as these sensors are increasingly important in low-light-level sensing in many different fields of research.
The Subchapter discussing the expected event rates and thus detectable events is convincing - not least because the limitations of this EUSO pathfinder are pointed out right away.
The introduction of a second detection channel, (astrophysical) neutrinos along with UHECRs, is compelling and expands the science case of EUSO-SPB2 substantially. Also the potential possibility to detect further up-going events like the one seen by ANITA is interesting and makes curious.
The mention of the capability of EUSO-SPB2 to potentially respond to alerts from other experiments and observatories during the flight period is reasonable since it expands even more the possible goals and outcomes of this mission.
The content of this proceedings is well thought out, interesting for many readers and describes well the status and science goals (and R&D goals) of EUSO-SPB2 within the small number of pages of a proceeding. The signal rates and sensitivities simulated via GEANT4 and MC are within a realistic range, presumably also incorporating experiences and findings from the previous EUSO-SPB1 flight.
During the review process, text errors and their suggested corrections, as well as possible small improvements to the Figures, were provided to the authors via anonymized file (uploaded) here.
Author: Johannes Eser on 2023-01-18 [id 3247]
(in reply to Report 1 on 2023-01-12)First we would like to thank the reviewer for the careful read and the useful suggestion which were incorporated in the new version.
The only unaddressed comment is the suggestion to incorporate previous flight path in section 2. We decided to add a link to a website showing the stratospheric air current mentioned as a footnote instead. Hopefully that is satisfactory as there is no way to add another figure within the page limit even trying the suggestion of aligninmg fig2 and 3 next to each other.