The cosmic ray shadow of the Moon observed with the ANTARES neutrino telescope

A. Albert; M. André; M. Anghinolfi; G. Anton; M. Ardid; J. -J. Aubert; J. Aublin; T. Avgitas; B. Baret; J. Barrios-Martít; S. Basa; B. Belhorma; V. Bertin; S. Biagi; R. Bormuth; J. Boumaaza; S. Bourret; M. C. Bouwhuis; H. Brânzaş; R. Bruijn; J. Brunner; J. Busto; A. Capone; L. Caramete; J. Carr; S. Celli; M. Chabab; R. Cherkaoui El Moursli; T. Chiarusi; M. Circella; J. A. B. Coelho; A. Coleiro; M. Colomer; R. Coniglione; H. Costantini; P. Coyle; A. Creusot; A. F. Díaz; A. Deschamps; C. Distefano; I. Di Palma; A. Domi; C. Donzaud; D. Dornic; D. Drouhin; T. Eberl; I. El Bojaddaini; N. El Khayati; D. Elsässer; A. Enzenhöfer; A. Ettahiri; F. Fassi; I. Felis; P. Fermani; G. Ferrara; L. A. Fusco; P. Gay; H. Glotin; T. Grégoire; R. Gracia Ruiz; K. Graf; S. Hallmann; H. van Haren; A. J. Heijboer; Y. Hello; J. J. Hernández-Rey; J. Hößl; J. Hofestädt; G. Illuminati; M. de Jong; M. Jongen; M. Kadler; O. Kalekin; U. Katz; N. R. Khan-Chowdhury; A. Kouchner; M. Kreter; I. Kreykenbohm; V. Kulikovskiy; C. Lachaud; R. Lahmann; D. Lefèvre; E. Leonora; G. Levi; M. Lotze; S. Loucatos; M. Marcelin; A. Margiotta; A. Marinelli; J. A. Martínez-Mora; R. Mele; K. Melis; P. Migliozzi; A. Moussa; S. Navas; E. Nezri; A. Nuñez; M. Organokov; G. E. Păvălaş; C. Pellegrino; P. Piattelli; V. Popa; T. Pradier; L. Quinn; C. Racca; N. Randazzo; G. Riccobene; A. Sánchez-Losa; M. Saldaña; I. Salvadori; D. F. E. Samtleben; M. Sanguineti; P. Sapienza; F. Schüssler; M. Spurio; Th. Stolarczyk; M. Taiuti; Y. Tayalati; A. Trovato; B. Vallage; V. Van Elewyck; F. Versari; D. Vivolo; J. Wilms; D. Zaborov; J. D. Zornoza; J. Zúñiga

doi:10.1140/epjc/s10052-018-6451-3

2023 Impact factor 4.2

Particles and Fields

Open Access

Eur. Phys. J. C (2018) 78: 1006
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjc/s10052-018-6451-3

Regular Article - Experimental Physics

The cosmic ray shadow of the Moon observed with the ANTARES neutrino telescope

A. Albert¹, M. André², M. Anghinolfi³, G. Anton⁴, M. Ardid⁵, J. -J. Aubert⁶, J. Aublin⁷, T. Avgitas⁷, B. Baret⁷, J. Barrios-Martít⁸, S. Basa⁹, B. Belhorma¹⁰, V. Bertin⁶, S. Biagi¹¹, R. Bormuth¹²^,13, J. Boumaaza¹⁴, S. Bourret⁷, M. C. Bouwhuis¹², H. Brânzaş¹⁵, R. Bruijn¹²^,16, J. Brunner⁶, J. Busto⁶, A. Capone¹⁷^,18, L. Caramete¹⁵, J. Carr⁶, S. Celli¹⁷^,18^,19, M. Chabab²⁰, R. Cherkaoui El Moursli¹⁴, T. Chiarusi²¹^*, M. Circella²², J. A. B. Coelho⁷, A. Coleiro⁷^,8, M. Colomer⁷^,8, R. Coniglione¹¹, H. Costantini⁶, P. Coyle⁶, A. Creusot⁷, A. F. Díaz²³, A. Deschamps²⁴, C. Distefano¹¹, I. Di Palma¹⁷^,18, A. Domi³^,25, C. Donzaud⁷^,26, D. Dornic⁶, D. Drouhin¹, T. Eberl⁴, I. El Bojaddaini²⁷, N. El Khayati¹⁴, D. Elsässer²⁸, A. Enzenhöfer⁴^,6, A. Ettahiri¹⁴, F. Fassi¹⁴, I. Felis⁵, P. Fermani¹⁷^,18, G. Ferrara¹¹, L. A. Fusco⁷^,29, P. Gay⁷^,30, H. Glotin³¹, T. Grégoire⁷, R. Gracia Ruiz¹, K. Graf⁴, S. Hallmann⁴, H. van Haren³², A. J. Heijboer¹², Y. Hello²⁴, J. J. Hernández-Rey⁸, J. Hößl⁴, J. Hofestädt⁴, G. Illuminati⁸, M. de Jong¹²^,13, M. Jongen¹², M. Kadler²⁸, O. Kalekin⁴, U. Katz⁴, N. R. Khan-Chowdhury⁸, A. Kouchner⁷^,33, M. Kreter²⁸, I. Kreykenbohm³⁴, V. Kulikovskiy³^,35, C. Lachaud⁷, R. Lahmann⁴, D. Lefèvre³⁶^,37, E. Leonora³⁸, G. Levi²¹^,29, M. Lotze⁸, S. Loucatos⁷^,39, M. Marcelin⁹, A. Margiotta²¹^,29, A. Marinelli⁴⁰^,41, J. A. Martínez-Mora⁵, R. Mele⁴²^,43, K. Melis¹²^,16, P. Migliozzi⁴², A. Moussa²⁷, S. Navas⁴⁴, E. Nezri⁹, A. Nuñez⁶^,9, M. Organokov¹, G. E. Păvălaş¹⁵, C. Pellegrino²¹^,29, P. Piattelli¹¹, V. Popa¹⁵, T. Pradier¹, L. Quinn⁶, C. Racca⁴⁵, N. Randazzo³⁸, G. Riccobene¹¹, A. Sánchez-Losa²², M. Saldaña⁵, I. Salvadori⁶, D. F. E. Samtleben¹²^,13, M. Sanguineti³^,25^**, P. Sapienza¹¹, F. Schüssler³⁹, M. Spurio²¹^,29, Th. Stolarczyk³⁹, M. Taiuti³^,25, Y. Tayalati¹⁴, A. Trovato¹¹, B. Vallage⁷^,39, V. Van Elewyck⁷^,33, F. Versari²¹^,29, D. Vivolo⁴²^,43, J. Wilms³⁴, D. Zaborov⁶, J. D. Zornoza⁸ and J. Zúñiga⁸

¹ Université de Strasbourg, CNRS, IPHC UMR 7178, 67000, Strasbourg, France
² Laboratory of Applied Bioacoustics, Technical University of Catalonia, Rambla Exposició, 08800, Vilanova i la Geltrú, Barcelona, Spain
³ INFN, Sezione di Genova, Via Dodecaneso 33, 16146, Genova, Italy
⁴ Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Erlangen Centre for Astroparticle Physics, Erwin-Rommel-Str. 1, Erlangen, Germany
⁵ Institut d’Investigació per a la Gestió Integrada de les Zones Costaneres (IGIC), Universitat Politècnica de València. C/ Paranimf 1, 46730, Gandia, Spain
⁶ Aix Marseille Univ, CNRS/IN2P3, CPPM, Marseille, France
⁷ APC, Univ Paris Diderot, CNRS/IN2P3, CEA/Irfu, Obs de Paris, Sorbonne Paris Cité, Paris, France
⁸ IFIC, Instituto de Física Corpuscular (CSIC, Universitat de València) c/ Catedrático José Beltrán, 2 E-46980 Paterna, Valencia, Spain
⁹ LAM - Laboratoire d’Astrophysique de Marseille, Pôle de l’Étoile Site de Château-Gombert, rue Frédéric Joliot-Curie 38, 13388, Marseille Cedex 13, France
¹⁰ National Center for Energy Sciences and Nuclear Techniques, B.P.1382, 10001, Rabat, Morocco
¹¹ INFN, Laboratori Nazionali del Sud (LNS), Via S. Sofia 62, 95123, Catania, Italy
¹² Nikhef, Science Park, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
¹³ Huygens-Kamerlingh Onnes Laboratorium, Universiteit Leiden, Leiden, The Netherlands
¹⁴ Faculty of Sciences, University Mohammed V in Rabat, 4 av. Ibn Battouta, B.P. 1014, 10000, Rabat, Morocco
¹⁵ Institute of Space Science, RO-077125, Măgurele, Bucharest, Romania
¹⁶ Universiteit van Amsterdam, Instituut voor Hoge-Energie Fysica, Science Park 105, 1098 XG, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
¹⁷ INFN, Sezione di Roma, P.le Aldo Moro 2, 00185, Rome, Italy
¹⁸ Dipartimento di Fisica dell’Università La Sapienza, P.le Aldo Moro 2, 00185, Rome, Italy
¹⁹ Gran Sasso Science Institute, Viale Francesco Crispi 7, 00167, L’Aquila, Italy
²⁰ LPHEA, Faculty of Science, Semlali, Cadi Ayyad University, P.O.B. 2390, Marrakech, Morocco
²¹ INFN, Sezione di Bologna, Viale Berti-Pichat 6/2, 40127, Bologna, Italy
²² INFN, Sezione di Bari, Via E. Orabona 4, 70126, Bari, Italy
²³ Department of Computer Architecture and Technology/CITIC, University of Granada, 18071, Granada, Spain
²⁴ Géoazur, UCA, CNRS, IRD, Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur, Sophia Antipolis, France
²⁵ Dipartimento di Fisica dell’Università, Via Dodecaneso 33, 16146, Genova, Italy
²⁶ Université Paris-Sud, 91405, Orsay Cedex, France
²⁷ Laboratory of Physics of Matter and Radiations, University Mohammed I, B.P.717, 6000, Oujda, Morocco
²⁸ Institut für Theoretische Physik und Astrophysik, Universität Würzburg, Emil-Fischer Str. 31, 97074, Würzburg, Germany
²⁹ Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia dell’Università, Viale Berti Pichat 6/2, 40127, Bologna, Italy
³⁰ Laboratoire de Physique Corpusculaire, Clermont Université, Université Blaise Pascal, CNRS/IN2P3, BP 10448, 63000, Clermont-Ferrand, France
³¹ LIS, UMR Université de Toulon, Aix Marseille Université, CNRS, 83041, Toulon, France
³² Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ) and Utrecht University, Landsdiep 4, 1797, SZ ’t Horntje (Texel), The Netherlands
³³ Institut Universitaire de France, 75005, Paris, France
³⁴ Dr. Remeis-Sternwarte and ECAP, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Sternwartstr. 7, 96049, Bamberg, Germany
³⁵ Skobeltsyn Institute of Nuclear Physics, Leninskie gory, Moscow State University, 119991, Moscow, Russia
³⁶ Mediterranean Institute of Oceanography (MIO), Aix-Marseille University, 13288, Marseille, Cedex 9, France
³⁷ Université du Sud Toulon-Var, CNRS-INSU/IRD UM 110, 83957, La Garde Cedex, France
³⁸ INFN, Sezione di Catania, Via S. Sofia 64, 95123, Catania, Italy
³⁹ IRFU, CEA, Université Paris-Saclay, 91191, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
⁴⁰ INFN, Sezione di Pisa, Largo B. Pontecorvo 3, 56127, Pisa, Italy
⁴¹ Dipartimento di Fisica dell’Università, Largo B. Pontecorvo 3, 56127, Pisa, Italy
⁴² INFN, Sezione di Napoli, Via Cintia, 80126, Napoli, Italy
⁴³ Dipartimento di Fisica dell’Università Federico II di Napoli, Via Cintia, 80126, Napoli, Italy
⁴⁴ Dpto. de Física Teórica y del Cosmos & C.A.F.P.E., University of Granada, 18071, Granada, Spain
⁴⁵ GRPHE, Université de Haute Alsace - Institut universitaire de technologie de Colmar, 34 rue du Grillenbreit, BP 50568, 68008, Colmar, France

^* e-mail: tommaso.chiarusi@bo.infn.it
^** e-mail: matteo.sanguineti@ge.infn.it

Received: 5 August 2018
Accepted: 14 November 2018
Published online: 11 December 2018

Abstract

One of the main objectives of the ANTARES telescope is the search for point-like neutrino sources. Both the pointing accuracy and the angular resolution of the detector are important in this context and a reliable way to evaluate this performance is needed. In order to measure the pointing accuracy of the detector, one possibility is to study the shadow of the Moon, i.e. the deficit of the atmospheric muon flux from the direction of the Moon induced by the absorption of cosmic rays. Analysing the data taken between 2007 and 2016, the Moon shadow is observed with $3.5\sigma$ statistical significance. The detector angular resolution for downward-going muons is $0.73^{\circ }\pm 0.14^{\circ }.$ The resulting pointing performance is consistent with the expectations. An independent check of the telescope pointing accuracy is realised with the data collected by a shower array detector onboard of a ship temporarily moving around the ANTARES location.