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.

Details

Title
The cosmic ray shadow of the Moon observed with the ANTARES neutrino telescope
Author
Albert, A 1 ; André, M 2 ; Anghinolfi, M 3 ; Anton, G 4 ; Ardid, M 5 ; J -J Aubert 6 ; Aublin, J 7 ; Avgitas, T 7 ; Baret, B 7 ; Barrios-Martít, J 8 ; Basa, S 9 ; Belhorma, B 10 ; Bertin, V 6 ; Biagi, S 11 ; Bormuth, R 12 ; Boumaaza, J 13 ; Bourret, S 7 ; Bouwhuis, M C 14 ; Brânzaş, H 15 ; Bruijn, R 16 ; Brunner, J 6 ; Busto, J 6 ; Capone, A 17 ; Caramete, L 15 ; Carr, J 6 ; Celli, S 18 ; Chabab, M 19 ; R Cherkaoui El Moursli 13 ; Chiarusi, T 20 ; Circella, M 21 ; Coelho, J A B 7 ; Coleiro, A 22 ; Colomer, M 22 ; Coniglione, R 11 ; Costantini, H 6 ; Coyle, P 6 ; Creusot, A 7 ; Díaz, A F 23 ; Deschamps, A 24 ; Distefano, C 11 ; I Di Palma 17 ; Domi, A 25 ; Donzaud, C 26 ; Dornic, D 6 ; Drouhin, D 1 ; Eberl, T 4 ; I El Bojaddaini 27 ; N El Khayati 13 ; Elsässer, D 28 ; Enzenhöfer, A 29 ; Ettahiri, A 13 ; Fassi, F 13 ; Felis, I 5 ; Fermani, P 17 ; Ferrara, G 11 ; Fusco, L A 30 ; Gay, P 31 ; Glotin, H 32 ; Grégoire, T 7 ; R Gracia Ruiz 1 ; Graf, K 4 ; Hallmann, S 4 ; H van Haren 33 ; Heijboer, A J 14 ; Hello, Y 24 ; Hernández-Rey, J J 8 ; Hößl, J 4 ; Hofestädt, J 4 ; Illuminati, G 8 ; de Jong, M 12 ; Jongen, M 14 ; Kadler, M 28 ; Kalekin, O 4 ; Katz, U 4 ; Khan-Chowdhury, N R 8 ; Kouchner, A 34 ; Kreter, M 28 ; Kreykenbohm, I 35 ; Kulikovskiy, V 36 ; Lachaud, C 7 ; Lahmann, R 4 ; Lefèvre, D 37 ; Leonora, E 38 ; Levi, G 39 ; Lotze, M 8 ; Loucatos, S 40 ; Marcelin, M 9 ; Margiotta, A 39 ; Marinelli, A 41 ; Martínez-Mora, J A 5 ; Mele, R 42 ; Melis, K 16 ; Migliozzi, P 43 ; Moussa, A 27 ; Navas, S 44 ; Nezri, E 9 ; Nuñez, A 45 ; Organokov, M 1 ; Păvălaş, G E 15 ; Pellegrino, C 39 ; Piattelli, P 11 ; Popa, V 15 ; Pradier, T 1 ; Quinn, L 6 ; Racca, C 46 ; Randazzo, N 38 ; Riccobene, G 11 ; Sánchez-Losa, A 21 ; Saldaña, M 5 ; Salvadori, I 6 ; Samtleben, D F E 12 ; Sanguineti, M 25   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Sapienza, P 11 ; Schüssler, F 47 ; Spurio, M 39 ; Stolarczyk, Th 47 ; Taiuti, M 25 ; Tayalati, Y 13 ; Trovato, A 11 ; Vallage, B 40 ; V Van Elewyck 34 ; Versari, F 39 ; Vivolo, D 42 ; Wilms, J 35 ; Zaborov, D 6 ; Zornoza, J D 8 ; Zúñiga, J 8 

1  Université de Strasbourg, CNRS, IPHC UMR 7178, Strasbourg, France 
2  Laboratory of Applied Bioacoustics, Technical University of Catalonia, Vilanova i la Geltrú, Barcelona, Spain 
3  INFN, Sezione di Genova, Genova, Italy 
4  Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Erlangen Centre for Astroparticle Physics, Erlangen, Germany 
5  Institut d’Investigació per a la Gestió Integrada de les Zones Costaneres (IGIC), Universitat Politècnica de València. C/ Paranimf 1, 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, Valencia, Spain 
9  LAM - Laboratoire d’Astrophysique de Marseille, Pôle de l’Étoile Site de Château-Gombert, Marseille Cedex 13, France 
10  National Center for Energy Sciences and Nuclear Techniques, Rabat, Morocco 
11  INFN, Laboratori Nazionali del Sud (LNS), Catania, Italy 
12  Nikhef, Science Park, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Huygens-Kamerlingh Onnes Laboratorium, Universiteit Leiden, Leiden, The Netherlands 
13  Faculty of Sciences, University Mohammed V in Rabat, Rabat, Morocco 
14  Nikhef, Science Park, Amsterdam, The Netherlands 
15  Institute of Space Science, Bucharest, Romania 
16  Nikhef, Science Park, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Universiteit van Amsterdam, Instituut voor Hoge-Energie Fysica, Amsterdam, The Netherlands 
17  INFN, Sezione di Roma, Rome, Italy; Dipartimento di Fisica dell’Università La Sapienza, Rome, Italy 
18  INFN, Sezione di Roma, Rome, Italy; Dipartimento di Fisica dell’Università La Sapienza, Rome, Italy; Gran Sasso Science Institute, L’Aquila, Italy 
19  LPHEA, Faculty of Science, Semlali, Cadi Ayyad University, Marrakech, Morocco 
20  INFN, Sezione di Bologna, Bologna, Italy 
21  INFN, Sezione di Bari, Bari, Italy 
22  APC, Univ Paris Diderot, CNRS/IN2P3, CEA/Irfu, Obs de Paris, Sorbonne Paris Cité, Paris, France; IFIC, Instituto de Física Corpuscular (CSIC, Universitat de València) c/ Catedrático José Beltrán, Valencia, Spain 
23  Department of Computer Architecture and Technology/CITIC, University of Granada, Granada, Spain 
24  Géoazur, UCA, CNRS, IRD, Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur, Sophia Antipolis, France 
25  INFN, Sezione di Genova, Genova, Italy; Dipartimento di Fisica dell’Università, Genova, Italy 
26  APC, Univ Paris Diderot, CNRS/IN2P3, CEA/Irfu, Obs de Paris, Sorbonne Paris Cité, Paris, France; Université Paris-Sud, Orsay Cedex, France 
27  Laboratory of Physics of Matter and Radiations, University Mohammed I, Oujda, Morocco 
28  Institut für Theoretische Physik und Astrophysik, Universität Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany 
29  Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Erlangen Centre for Astroparticle Physics, Erlangen, Germany; Aix Marseille Univ, CNRS/IN2P3, CPPM, Marseille, France 
30  APC, Univ Paris Diderot, CNRS/IN2P3, CEA/Irfu, Obs de Paris, Sorbonne Paris Cité, Paris, France; Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia dell’Università, Bologna, Italy 
31  APC, Univ Paris Diderot, CNRS/IN2P3, CEA/Irfu, Obs de Paris, Sorbonne Paris Cité, Paris, France; Laboratoire de Physique Corpusculaire, Clermont Université, Université Blaise Pascal, CNRS/IN2P3, Clermont-Ferrand, France 
32  LIS, UMR Université de Toulon, Aix Marseille Université, CNRS, Toulon, France 
33  Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ) and Utrecht University, SZ ’t Horntje (Texel), The Netherlands 
34  APC, Univ Paris Diderot, CNRS/IN2P3, CEA/Irfu, Obs de Paris, Sorbonne Paris Cité, Paris, France; Institut Universitaire de France, Paris, France 
35  Dr. Remeis-Sternwarte and ECAP, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Bamberg, Germany 
36  INFN, Sezione di Genova, Genova, Italy; Skobeltsyn Institute of Nuclear Physics, Leninskie gory, Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia 
37  Mediterranean Institute of Oceanography (MIO), Aix-Marseille University, Marseille, Cedex 9, France; Université du Sud Toulon-Var, CNRS-INSU/IRD UM 110, La Garde Cedex, France 
38  INFN, Sezione di Catania, Catania, Italy 
39  INFN, Sezione di Bologna, Bologna, Italy; Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia dell’Università, Bologna, Italy 
40  APC, Univ Paris Diderot, CNRS/IN2P3, CEA/Irfu, Obs de Paris, Sorbonne Paris Cité, Paris, France; IRFU, CEA, Université Paris-Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette, France 
41  INFN, Sezione di Pisa, Pisa, Italy; Dipartimento di Fisica dell’Università, Pisa, Italy 
42  INFN, Sezione di Napoli, Napoli, Italy; Dipartimento di Fisica dell’Università Federico II di Napoli, Napoli, Italy 
43  INFN, Sezione di Napoli, Napoli, Italy 
44  Dpto. de Física Teórica y del Cosmos & C.A.F.P.E., University of Granada, Granada, Spain 
45  Aix Marseille Univ, CNRS/IN2P3, CPPM, Marseille, France; LAM - Laboratoire d’Astrophysique de Marseille, Pôle de l’Étoile Site de Château-Gombert, Marseille Cedex 13, France 
46  GRPHE, Université de Haute Alsace - Institut universitaire de technologie de Colmar, Colmar, France 
47  IRFU, CEA, Université Paris-Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette, France 
Pages
1-9
Publication year
2018
Publication date
Dec 2018
Publisher
Springer Nature B.V.
ISSN
14346044
e-ISSN
14346052
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjc/s10052-018-6451-3
ProQuest document ID
2154546617
Copyright
The European Physical Journal C is a copyright of Springer, (2018). All Rights Reserved., © 2018. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.