Abstract
The orbital detector TUS (Tracking Ultraviolet Setup) with high sensitivity in near-visible ultraviolet (tens of photons per time sample of 0.8 μ s of wavelengths 300–400 nm from a detector’s pixel field of view) and the microsecond-scale temporal resolution was developed by the Lomonosov-UHECR/TLE collaboration and launched into orbit on 28 April 2016. A variety of different phenomena were studied by measuring ultraviolet signals from the atmosphere: extensive air showers from ultra-high-energy cosmic rays, lightning discharges, transient atmospheric events, aurora ovals, and meteors. These events are different in their origin and in their duration and luminosity. The TUS detector had a capability to conduct measurements with different temporal resolutions (0.8 μ s, 25.6 μ s, 0.4 ms, and 6.6 ms) but the same spatial resolution of 5 km. Results of the TUS detector measurements of various atmospheric emissions are discussed and compared to data from previous experiments.
Highlights
A study of transient UV atmospheric emission has been performed with a new space instrument TUS (Tracking Ultraviolet Setup), an imaging detector equipped with a large-area mirror-concentrator (≈2 m2) and 256 photo multipliers in the mirror focal plane
The main goal of the TUS detector was a search for ultra-high-energy cosmic ray (UHECR) particles with energies above 50 EeV, a limit set by the Greizen–Zatsepin–Kuzmin (GZK) effect, see the earlier papers on the project [1,2,3,4]
The diversity of transient events recorded by TUS in the UV range of wavelengths has significantly improved our earlier understanding of transient atmospheric events obtained in the earlier MSU space experiments Tatiana, Tatiana-2, and Vernov
Summary
A study of transient UV atmospheric emission has been performed with a new space instrument TUS (Tracking Ultraviolet Setup), an imaging detector equipped with a large-area mirror-concentrator (≈2 m2) and 256 photo multipliers in the mirror focal plane. The detector was accommodated on board the Lomonosov satellite (an international designation MVL 300, or 2016-026A). It was launched on 28 April 2016, on a polar sun-synchronous orbit with an inclination of 97.3◦, a period of ∼94 min, and a height around 500 km. An UHECR primary particle initiates a cascade of nuclear interactions in the atmosphere called an extensive air shower (EAS). An EAS can be detected as a track in the atmosphere with its ultraviolet (UV) radiation in the near-visible wavelength band of 300–400 nm. The TUS electronic trigger was designed to select UHECR transient tracks [5] and the first candidates for UHECR events were found and analyzed [6,7]
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