Using and Testing Camera Sensors with Different Devices at Cosmic Ray Detection

Abstract

Cosmic Ray (CR) is high-energy charged particles that reach the earth from space. CR detection methods and studies have been progressing rapidly since the beginning of the 20th century. One of these methods is the use of digital cameras with Charge Coupled Device (CCD) and Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) sensors. Mobile phone cameras or webcams offer an easily using and economical measurement system for CR measurement. The sensors are exposed to CR during a long exposure. CRs leave traces in the background. Cosmic particle tracks are then separated from the background noise and can be classified. Making the traces of the particles visible is important for understanding the subject. In this context, traces of particles such as electrons, muons, and alphas can be seen with the cloud chamber experiments. Help of sensor technology and cameras have developed in recent years, CR traces can be easily detected so that it can be seen. There are many software and international projects that detect CR using CMOS sensors in cell phone cameras. In this study, related projects, programs and studies were researched; CR traces that we captured with the help of Cosmic-Ray Extremely Distributed Observatory (CREDO) and Cosmic Ray Finder (CRF) software with web cam and a mobile phone cam CMOS sensor are presented. Links have been made about astrophysical events coinciding with previously detected particle images.

Keywords

• CCD
• CMOS
• Cosmic Ray
• Muon.

References

1. Boezio, M., Munini, R., & Picozza, P. (2020). Cosmic ray detection in space. Progress in Particle and Nuclear Physics, 112, 103765. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.PPNP.2020.103765
2. Borisyak, M., Usvyatsov, M., Mulhearn, M., Shimmin, C., & Ustyuzhanin, A. (2017). Muon Trigger for Mobile Phones. Journal of Physics: Conference Series, 898, 32048. https://doi.org/10.1088/1742-6596/898/3/032048
3. Castellina, A., & Donato, F. (2011). Astrophysics of Galactic charged cosmic rays. https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.1110.2981
4. Gaisser, T. K., Engel, R., & Resconi, E. (2016). Cosmic Rays and Particle Physics (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139192194
5. Groom, D. (2004). Cosmic Rays and Other Nonsense in Astronomical CCD Imagers. Scientific Detectors for Astronomy, 81–94. https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-2527-0_9
6. Homola, P., Beznosko, D., Bhatta, G., Bibrzycki, Ł., Borczyńska, M., Bratek, Ł., Budnev, N., Burakowski, D., Alvarez-Castillo, D. E., Almeida Cheminant, K., Ćwikła, A., Dam-o, P., Dhital, N., Duffy, A. R., Głownia, P., Gorzkiewicz, K., Góra, D., Gupta, A. C., Hlávková, Z., … Woźniak, K. W. (2020). Cosmic-Ray Extremely Distributed Observatory. Symmetry, 12(11). https://doi.org/10.3390/sym12111835
7. M. I. Plewa, J. V. (2005). Detecting cosmic rays using CMOS sensors in consumer devices. American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 1–4.
8. Magnan, P. (2003). Detection of visible photons in CCD and CMOS: A comparative view. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, 504(1–3), 199–212. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0168-9002(03)00792-7

9. Meehan, M., Bravo, S., Campos, F., Ruggles, T., Schneider, C., Vandenbroucke, J., Winter, M., Peacock, J., & Simons, A. L. (2017). The particle detector in your pocket: The Distributed Electronic Cosmic-ray Observatory. Proceedings of Science. https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.1708.01281
10. Stuart Parkerson. (2018). CREDO, DECO and CRAYFIS Apps Leverage the Particle Detector in Your Smart Phone, Astronomy Technology Today. Astronomy Technology Today.
11. Web 1. https://foxylab.com/CRF.php?en, 04.05.2022
12. Web 2. https://www.virtualtelescope.eu/2021/07/21/supernova-sn-2021sjt-in-ngc-6951-galaxy-an-image-20-july-2021/, 11.04.2022