https://doi.org/10.1140/epjc/s10052-023-11401-5
Regular Article - Experimental Physics
First observation of the cosmic ray shadow of the Moon and the Sun with KM3NeT/ORCA
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INFN, Sezione di Catania, Via Santa Sofia 64, 95123, Catania, Italy
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Université de Strasbourg, CNRS, IPHC UMR 7178, 67000, Strasbourg, France
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IFIC-Instituto de Física Corpuscular (CSIC-Universitat de València), c/Catedrático José Beltrán, 2, 46980, Paterna, Valencia, Spain
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Aix Marseille Univ, CNRS/IN2P3, CPPM, Marseille, France
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INFN, Sezione di Napoli, Complesso Universitario di Monte S. Angelo, Via Cintia ed. G, 80126, Napoli, Italy
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Dip. Scienze Fisiche “E. Pancini”, Complesso Universitario di Monte S. Angelo, Università di Napoli “Federico II”, Via Cintia ed. G, 80126, Napoli, Italy
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INFN, Sezione di Roma, Piazzale Aldo Moro 2, 00185, Roma, Italy
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Laboratori d’Aplicacions Bioacústiques, Centre Tecnològic de Vilanova i la Geltrú, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Avda. Rambla Exposició, s/n, 08800, Vilanova i la Geltrú, Spain
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INFN, Sezione di Genova 33, 16146, Genova, Italy
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Department of Computer Architecture and Technology/CITIC, University of Granada, 18071, Granada, Spain
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Instituto de Investigación para la Gestión Integrada de las Zonas Costeras, Universitat Politècnica de València, C/ Paranimf, 1, 46730, Gandia, Spain
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Université de Paris, CNRS, Astroparticule et Cosmologie, 75013, Paris, France
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NCSR Demokritos, Institute of Nuclear and Particle Physics, Ag. Paraskevi Attikis, 15310, Athens, Greece
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LPC CAEN, A02182036, 6 boulevard Maréchal Juin, 14050, Caen, France
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Nikhef, National Institute for Subatomic Physics, PO Box 41882, 1009 DB, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
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University Mohammed V in Rabat, Faculty of Sciences, B.P. 1014, 4 av. Ibn Battouta, 10000, Rabat, Morocco
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INFN, Sezione di Bologna, v.le C. Berti-Pichat, 6/2, 40127, Bologna, Italy
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Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia, Università di Bologna, v.le C. Berti-Pichat, 6/2, 40127, Bologna, Italy
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INFN, Laboratori Nazionali del Sud, Via S. Sofia 62, 95123, Catania, Italy
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Centre for Space Research, North-West University, Private Bag X6001, 2520, Potchefstroom, South Africa
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Instituto Español de Oceanografía, Unidad Mixta IEO-UPV, C/ Paranimf, 1, 46730, Gandia, Spain
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University Mohammed I, Faculty of Sciences, Mohammed VI, B.V. 717, R.P. 60000, Oujda, Morocco
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Dipartimento di Matematica, Università di Salerno e INFN Gruppo Collegato di Salerno, Via Giovanni Paolo II 132, 84084, Fisciano, Italy
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ISS, Atomistilor 409, 077125, Măgurele, Romania
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Institute of Physics/IHEF, University of Amsterdam, PO Box 94216, 1090 GE, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
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TNO, Technical Sciences, PO Box 155, 2600 AD, Delft, The Netherlands
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Dipartimento di Matematica e Fisica, Università degli Studi della Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”, viale Lincoln 5, 81100, Caserta, Italy
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Dipartimento di Fisica, Università La Sapienza, Piazzale Aldo Moro 2, 00185, Roma, Italy
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Dipartimento di Ingegneria dell’Energia Elettrica e dell’Informazione “Guglielmo Marconi”, Università di Bologna, Via dell’Università 50, 47521, Cesena, Italia
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Physics Department, Faculty of Science Semlalia, Cadi Ayyad University, P.O.B. 2390, Av. My Abdellah, 40000, Marrakech, Morocco
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School of Physics, University of the Witwatersrand, Private Bag 3, Wits 2050, Johannesburg, South Africa
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Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia “Ettore Majorana”, Università di Catania, Via Santa Sofia 64, 95123, Catania, Italy
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INFN, LNF, Via Enrico Fermi, 40, 00044, Frascati, Italy
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INFN, Sezione di Bari, via Orabona, 4, 70125, Bari, Italy
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International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research, Curtin University, 6102, Bentley, WA, Australia
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Subatech, IMT Atlantique, IN2P3-CNRS, Université de Nantes, BP 20722, 4 rue Alfred Kastler, La Chantrerie, 44307, Nantes, France
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Erlangen Centre for Astroparticle Physics, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), Erwin-Rommel-Straße 1, 91058, Erlangen, Germany
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University Würzburg, Emil-Fischer-Straße 31, 97074, Würzburg, Germany
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School of Computing, Engineering and Mathematics, Western Sydney University, Locked Bag 1797, 2751, Penrith, NSW, Australia
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Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Salerno e INFN Gruppo Collegato di Salerno, Via Giovanni Paolo II 132, 84084, Fisciano, Italy
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IN2P3, LPC, Campus des Cézeaux 24, BP 80026, avenue des Landais, 63171, Aubière Cedex, France
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Università di Genova, Via Dodecaneso 33, 16146, Genova, Italy
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Dpto. de Física Teórica y del Cosmos, C.A.F.P.E., University of Granada, 18071, Granada, Spain
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NIOZ (Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research), PO Box 59, 1790 AB, Den Burg Texel, The Netherlands
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Department of Physics, Tbilisi State University, 3, Chavchavadze Ave., 0179, Tbilisi, Georgia
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Leiden Institute of Physics, Leiden University, PO Box 9504, 2300 RA, Leiden, The Netherlands
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National Centre for Nuclear Research, 02-093, Warsaw, Poland
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Institut Universitaire de France, 1 rue Descartes, 75005, Paris, France
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Physics Department, University La Sapienza, Roma, Piazzale Aldo Moro 2, 00185, Rome, Italy
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Department Physics, University of Johannesburg, PO Box 524, 2006, Auckland Park, South Africa
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Laboratorio CIRCE, Dip. Di Matematica e Fisica, Università degli Studi della Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”, CAPACITY, Viale Carlo III di Borbone 153, 81020, San Nicola La Strada, Italy
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Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Pisa, Largo Bruno Pontecorvo 3, 56127, Pisa, Italy
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School of Science and Technologies, The University of Georgia, Kostava str. 77, 0171, Tbilisi, Georgia
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Laboratoire Univers et Particules de Montpellier, Place Eugène Bataillon-CC 72, 34095, Montpellier Cédex 05, France
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Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), Remeis Sternwarte, Sternwartstraße 7, 96049, Bamberg, Germany
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Université de Haute Alsace, rue des Frères Lumière, 68093, Mulhouse Cedex, France
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Institut für Kernphysik, University of Münster, Wilhelm-Klemm-Str. 9, 48149, Münster, Germany
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Department of Physics and Astronomy, Utrecht University, PO Box 80000, 3508 TA, Utrecht, The Netherlands
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Centre for Cosmology, Particle Physics and Phenomenology, UCLouvain, Chemin du Cyclotron, 2, 1349, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
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INFN, CNAF, v.le C. Berti-Pichat, 6/2, 40127, Bologna, Italy
ah
brunner@cppm.in2p3.fr
ax
cerisy@cppm.in2p3.fr
Received:
18
November
2022
Accepted:
14
March
2023
Published online:
28
April
2023
This article reports the first observation of the Moon and the Sun shadows in the sky distribution of cosmic-ray induced muons measured by the KM3NeT/ORCA detector. The analysed data-taking period spans from February 2020 to November 2021, when the detector had 6 Detection Units deployed at the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea, each composed of 18 Digital Optical Modules. The shadows induced by the Moon and the Sun were detected at their nominal position with a statistical significance of 4.2
and 6.2, and an angular resolution of 
and 
, respectively, consistent with the prediction of 
from simulations. This early result confirms the effectiveness of the detector calibration, in time, position and orientation and the accuracy of the event direction reconstruction. This also demonstrates the performance and the competitiveness of the detector in terms of pointing accuracy and angular resolution.
© The Author(s) 2023
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Funded by SCOAP3. SCOAP3 supports the goals of the International Year of Basic Sciences for Sustainable Development.
