Performance of the MACRO detector at Gran Sasso: Moon shadow and seasonal variations

N. Giglietto, M. Ambrosio, R. Antolini, G. Auriemma, R. Baker, A. Baldini, G. C. Barbarino, B. C. Barish, G. Battistoni, R. Bellotti, C. Bemporad, P. Bernardini, H. Bilokon, V. Bisi, C. Bloise, T. Bosio, C. Bower, S. Bussino, F. Cafagna, M. CalicchioD. Campana, M. Carboni, M. Castellano, S. Cecchini, F. Cei, V. Chiarella, A. Corona, S. Coutu, L. de Benedictis, G. de Cataldo, H. Dekhissi, C. de Marzo, I. de Mitri, M. de Vincenzi, A. di Credico, O. Erriquez, R. Fantini, C. Favuzzi, C. Forti, P. Fusco, G. Giacomelli, G. Giannini, M. Goretti, M. Grassi, P. Green, A. Grillo, F. Guarino, P. Guarnaccia, C. Gustavino, A. Habig, K. Hanson, A. Hawthorne, R. Heinz, J. T. Hong, E. Iarocci, E. Katsavounidis, E. Kearns, S. Kyriazopoulou, E. Lamanna, C. Lane, D. S. Levin, P. Lipari, G. Liu, R. Liu, N. P. Longley, M. J. Longo, G. Ludlam, F. Maaroufi, G. Mancarella, G. Mandrioli, A. Margiotta-Neri, A. Marini, D. Martello, A. Marzari-Chiesa, M. N. Mazziotta, D. G. Michael, S. Mikheyev, L. Miller, P. Monacelli, T. Montaruli, M. Monteno, S. Mufson, J. Musser, D. Nicoló, R. Nolty, C. Okada, C. Orth, G. Osteria, O. Palamara, S. Parlati, V. Patera, L. Patrizii, R. Pazzi, C. W. Peck, S. Petrera, N. D. Pignatano, P. Pistilli, V. Popa, A. Rainó, J. Reynoldson, F. Ronga, U. Rubizzo, A. Sanzgiri, F. Sartogo, C. Satriano, L. Satta, E. Scapparone, K. Scholberg, A. Sciubba, P. Serra-Lugaresi, M. Severi, M. Sitta, P. F. Spada, P. Spinelli, M. Spinetti, M. Spurio, R. Steinberg, J. L. Stone, L. R. Sulak, A. Surdo, G. Tarlé, V. Togo, V. Valente, E. Vilela, C. W. Walter, R. Webb

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Abstract

The MACRO underground detector at Gran Sasso has recorded about 30 million muon events in the period 1989-1995. We have analyzed these data to look for time variations and to study the pointing capabilities of the apparatus in the search for astrophysical point sources. We have observed a 3% seasonal variation of the high energy muon rate, due to atmospheric temperature variations, in agreement with theoretical predictions. We report also the detection of the moon shadowing effect with a statistical significance of 3.7 σ. The results obtained straighten the possibility that a "muon astronomy" using underground experiments is possible.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)180-184
Number of pages5
JournalNuclear Physics B - Proceedings Supplements
Volume61
Issue number3 SUPPL.
DOIs
StatePublished - Feb 1998

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