Abstract
Initially intended as student-led projects at universities and research institutions, the CubeSats now represent a unique opportunity to access space quickly and in a cost-effective fashion. CubeSats are standard and miniaturized satellites consisting of multiple identical units with dimensions of about 10×10×10cm3 and very limited power consumption (usually less than a few W). To date, several hundreds of CubeSats have been already launched targeting scientific, educational, technological, and commercial needs. Compact and highly efficient particle detectors suitable for payloads of miniaturized space missions can be a game changer for astronomy and astroparticle physics. For example, the origin of catastrophic astronomical events can be pinpointed with unprecedented resolution by measuring the gamma-ray coincidence signals in CubeSats flying in formations, and possibly used as early warning system for multi messenger searches. In this paper, we will discuss and analyze the main features of a CubeSat mission targeting intense and short bursts of gamma-rays.
Highlights
The aim of this work is to provide an overview about gamma-ray detection in space by means of instruments on-board CubeSat spacecrafts
Detection of gamma-rays in space earned more and more relevance over the last sixty years [5]. This was initiated with the deployment of constellations of satellites for homeland security and nuclear proliferation monitoring, and it quickly opened a new era in science with the serendipitous detection of Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRB) [6,7,8,9,10,11,12], lately evolving into a diverse population of gamma-ray detectors already orbiting around the Earth at various elevations to accommodate the science targets for various applications such as cosmology, general relativity, astroparticle physics, astrophysics, high energetic atmospheric physics, etc
A further aspect to take into account when operating Multi-Pixel Photon Counters (MPPC) is the variation of the functional parameters with temperature: as a consequence, a temperature-driven feedback is recommended in order to prevent strong gain fluctuations along the various region of the orbit
Summary
The aim of this work is to provide an overview about gamma-ray detection in space by means of instruments on-board CubeSat spacecrafts. Detection of gamma-rays in space earned more and more relevance over the last sixty years [5] This was initiated with the deployment of constellations of satellites for homeland security and nuclear proliferation monitoring, and it quickly opened a new era in science with the serendipitous detection of Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRB) [6,7,8,9,10,11,12], lately evolving into a diverse population of gamma-ray detectors already orbiting (or planned to orbit) around the Earth at various elevations to accommodate the science targets for various applications such as cosmology, general relativity, astroparticle physics, astrophysics, high energetic atmospheric physics, etc.
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