The X-$\gamma$ detector onboard the POEMMA-Balloon with Radio payload
Matteo Battisti

TL;DR
The paper describes the design and expected scientific contributions of the X-$$ detector onboard the POEMMA-Balloon with Radio, a NASA mission aiming to study high-altitude cosmic ray showers and associated X-ray and gamma-ray emissions.
Contribution
It introduces a novel X-$$ detector system optimized for balloon-borne observations of early-stage horizontal air showers induced by ultra-high-energy cosmic rays.
Findings
Design of a broad energy range X-$$ detector with scintillating crystals and SiPMs
Integration of the detector with other instruments for multi-modal observations
Expected to probe early shower development at high altitudes
Abstract
The POEMMA-Balloon with Radio (PBR) is a NASA mission designed to study Ultra-High-Energy Cosmic Rays and Very-High-Energy Neutrinos from a balloon platform. Serving as a precursor to the planned POEMMA satellite mission, PBR will be launched aboard a NASA Super Pressure Balloon for a flight at of 33 km altitude in Spring 2027 from Wanaka, New Zealand. The unique conditions of low pressure and high altitude will enable in-situ observations of High-Altitude Horizontal Air Showers (HAHAs), a poorly understood class of nearly horizontal Extensive Air Showers induced by cosmic rays skimming the Earth's atmosphere without reaching the ground. Due to the lower atmospheric grammage at these altitudes, HAHAs develop more gradually compared to typical downward-going EASs, with interaction lengths on the order of 100 km. This slow development allows balloon-borne instruments to probe the early…
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Taxonomy
TopicsAstrophysics and Cosmic Phenomena · Radiation Detection and Scintillator Technologies · Neutrino Physics Research
