Author:
Bertaina Mario Edoardo,Barghini Dario,Battisti Matteo,Belov Alexander,Bianciotto Marta,Bisconti Francesca,Blaksley Carl,Blin Sylvie,Bolmgren Karl,Cambiè Giorgio,Capel Francesca,Casolino Marco,Churilo Igor,Crisconio Marino,De La Taille Christophe,Ebisuzaki Toshikazu,Eser Johannes,Fenu Francesco,Filippatos George,Franceschi Massimo Alberto,Fuglesang Christer,Golzio Alessio,Gorodetzky Philippe,Kajino Fumiyoshi,Kasuga Hiroshi,Klimov Pavel,Kungel Viktoria,Kuznetsov Vladimir,Manfrin Massimiliano,Marcelli Laura,Mascetti Gabriele,Marszał Włodzimierz,Mignone Marco,Miyamoto Hiroko,Murashov Alexey,Napolitano Tommaso,Ohmori Hitoshi,Olinto Angela,Parizot Etienne,Picozza Piergiorgio,Piotrowski Lech Wiktor,Plebaniak Zbigniew,Prévôt Guillaume,Reali Enzo,Ricci Marco,Romoli Giulia,Sakaki Naoto,Sharakin Sergei,Shinozaki Kenji,Szabelski Jacek,Takizawa Yoshiyuki,Valentini Giovanni,Vrabel Michal,Wiencke Lawrence,Zotov Mikhail
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.