1. The JEM-EUSO mission: a space observatory to study the origin of Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Rays
- Author
-
E. Parizot and M. Bertaina
- Subjects
Physics ,Nuclear and High Energy Physics ,Astrophysics::High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena ,media_common.quotation_subject ,Astrophysics::Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics ,Astronomy ,Cosmic ray ,Astrophysics ,Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics ,law.invention ,Telescope ,Observatory ,law ,Sky ,Physics::Space Physics ,International Space Station ,Satellite ,Ultra-high-energy cosmic ray ,Neutrino ,media_common - Abstract
The Extreme Universe Space Observatory (EUSO) onboard the Japanese Experiment Module (JEM-EUSO) of the International Space Station (ISS) is an innovative space-based mission with the aim of detecting Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Rays (UHECRs) from the ISS, by using the Earth's atmosphere as a calorimeter viewed by a fluorescence telescope. An observatory able to produce an arrival direction map with more than several hundreds events above 5 × 10 19 eV would give important information on the origin of the UHECRs and identify structures in the sky map that contain information about the source density and/or distribution. This is likely to lead to an understanding of the acceleration mechanisms with a high potential for producing discoveries in astrophysics and/or fundamental physics. The scientific motivations of the mission as well as the current development status of the instrument and its performance are reviewed.
- Published
- 2014