Dark Matter Particle Explorer Explained

Dark Matter Particle Explorer
(DAMPE)
Names List:Wukong,[1] TanSuo[2]
Mission Type:High-energy Astronomy
Operator:CAS
Cospar Id:2015-078A[3]
Satcat:41173
Mission Duration:3 years (planned)
Elapsed:
Launch Date:17 December 2015 00:12 UTC
Launch Rocket:Long March 2D, No. 2D-Y31[4]
Launch Site:Jiuquan Launch Area 4, Launch Pad 603
Launch Contractor:SAST
Payload Mass:1400kg (3,100lb)
Power:400 W
Orbit Periapsis:500km (300miles)
Orbit Inclination:97.4°
Instrument Type:Gamma rays

The Dark Matter Particle Explorer, or DAMPE, also known as Wukong, is a Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) satellite which launched on 17 December 2015. The satellite was launched on a Long March 2D rocket from Launch Pad 603 at the LC-43 complex, also known as the South Launch Site, at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. It is China's first space observatory.

DAMPE is a space telescope used for the detection of high energy gamma rays, electrons and cosmic ray ions, to aid in the search for dark matter.[5] It was designed to look for the indirect decay signal of a hypothetical dark matter candidate called weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs).[6]

The project is the result of a collaboration among research institutions and universities in Italy, Switzerland and China under the leadership of the Purple Mountain Observatory (PMO) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).

Objectives

The scientific objectives of the mission are:[7]

Collaboration

The project is the result of a collaboration among research institutions and universities in Italy, Switzerland and China under the leadership of the Purple Mountain Observatory (PMO) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).[8] The DAMPE mission is funded by the strategic priority science and technology projects in space science of CAS.[9] [10] [11] The institutes that have been part of the collaboration are: IHEP (Institute of High Energy Physics), CAS (Chinese Academy of Sciences), Beijing, China; IMP (Institute of Modern Physics), CAS (Chinese Academy of Sciences), Lanzhou, China; NSSC (National Space Science Center), CAS (Chinese Academy of Sciences), Beijing, China; PMO (Purple Mountain Observatory), CAS (Chinese Academy of Sciences), Nanjing, China; USTC (University of Science and Technology of China), Hefei, China; INFN (Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare) and University of Perugia, Italy; INFN (Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare) and University of Bari, Italy; INFN (Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare) and University of Lecce, Italy; INFN (Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare) and Gran Sasso Science Institute (GSSI), L'Aquila, Italy; DPNC (Département de physique nucléaire et corpusculaire), University of Geneva, Switzerland.

Results

The first scientific result of DAMPE came in November 2017 as the direct detection of a break in the cosmic electron plus positron energy spectrum at an energy of 0.9 TeV. [12] [13]

In October 2019, DAMPE released its measurement of the proton component of cosmic rays, confirming previous results while also hinting towards new features in the energy spectrum.[14]

Naming

The space observatory is nicknamed Wukong after the Monkey King, who is the hero in the classic Chinese tale Journey to the West.Literally, "wu"(悟) means comprehension or understanding and "kong"(空)means void, so this name could also be understood as "understanding the void", relating to the undiscovered nature of dark matter.

The English name, DAMPE, was a backronym, which was named after a non-player character (NPC) in The Legend of Zelda, Dampé .[15] In the game, the player needs Dampé to find the treasure, which matches with the mission of DAMPE (not finding dark matter, but finding the evidence that dark matter exists).

Notes and References

  1. News: China's new Monkey King set for journey into space. https://web.archive.org/web/20151222090725/http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2015-12/16/c_134924136.htm. dead. December 22, 2015. 19 December 2015. Xinhua. 16 December 2015.
  2. Testing the 130 GeV gamma-ray line with high energy resolution detectors . Physics Letters B . 29 August 2012 . Li . Ye . Yuan . Qiang . 715 . 1–3 . 35–37 . 10.1016/j.physletb.2012.07.057 . 2012PhLB..715...35L. 1206.2241 . 59141316 .
  3. Web site: DAMPE (Wukong). Gunter's Space Page. 18 December 2015.
  4. Web site: CZ-2D (2) (Chang Zheng-2D (2)). Gunter's Space Page. 18 December 2015.
  5. News: China to launch its first dark matter probe by the end of 2015. Spaceflight Insider. 2 June 2015. Tomasz. Nowakowski. 18 December 2015.
  6. Web site: China's dark matter space probe detects tantalizing signal . Normile . Dennis . . 29 November 2017 . 19 March 2018.
  7. Web site: Chinese Long March 2D lofts DAMPE – A Dark Matter Investigator . Barbosa . Rui C. . NASA Spaceflight . 16 December 2015 . 25 April 2016.
  8. Web site: DArk Matter Particle Explorer . . 26 October 2017.
  9. Web site: First finding of China's DAMPE may shed light on dark matter research . . 30 November 2017 . 19 March 2018.
  10. China Launches Dark Matter Probe. Dickinson, David. 18 December 2015. Sky & Telescope.
  11. 1406.3928 . 2015ITNS...62.1010S . Study on FPGA SEU Mitigation for the Readout Electronics of DAMPE BGO Calorimeter in Space . IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science . 62 . 3 . 1010 . Shen . Zhongtao . Feng . Changqing . Gao . Shanshan . Zhang . Deliang . Jiang . Di . Liu . Shubin . An . Qi . 2015 . 10.1109/TNS.2015.2427293 . 26666344 .
  12. Direct detection of a break in the teraelectronvolt cosmic-ray spectrum of electrons and positrons. Nature. 2017. 552. 7683. 63–66. 10.1038/nature24475. 1711.10981. Ambrosi. G.. An. Q.. Asfandiyarov. R.. Azzarello. P.. Bernardini. P.. Bertucci. B.. Cai. M. S.. Chang. J.. Chen. D. Y.. Chen. H. F.. Chen. J. L.. Chen. W.. Cui. M. Y.. Cui. T. S.. D'Amone. A.. De Benedittis. A.. De Mitri. I.. Di Santo. M.. Dong. J. N.. Dong. T. K.. Dong. Y. F.. Dong. Z. X.. Donvito. G.. Droz. D.. Duan. K. K.. Duan. J. L.. Duranti. M.. D'Urso. D.. Fan. R. R.. Fan. Y. Z.. 29186110. 2017Natur.552...63D. 205261676. 29.
  13. Web site: First finding of China's DAMPE may shed light on dark matter research.
  14. Measurement of the cosmic-ray proton spectrum from 40 GeV to 100 TeV with the DAMPE satellite. 2019. 10.1126/sciadv.aax3793. 1909.12860. An. Q.. Asfandiyarov. R.. Azzarello. P.. Bernardini. P.. Bi. X. J.. Cai. M. S.. Chang. J.. Chen. D. Y.. Chen. H. F.. Chen. J. L.. Chen. W.. Cui. M. Y.. Cui. T. S.. Dai. H. T.. d'Amone. A.. De Benedittis. A.. De Mitri. I.. Di Santo. M.. Ding. M.. Dong. T. K.. Dong. Y. F.. Dong. Z. X.. Donvito. G.. Droz. D.. Duan. J. L.. Duan. K. K.. d'Urso. D.. Fan. R. R.. Fan. Y. Z.. Fang. F.. Science Advances. 5. 9. eaax3793. 31799401. 6868675. 2019SciA....5.3793A. 29.
  15. Web site: 悟空卫星英文名DAMPE竟源自《塞尔达传说》 . 2018-11-19 . 2018-11-19 . https://web.archive.org/web/20181119132602/http://m.265g.com/pc/news/1712/18792.html . dead .