Imaging of cosmic ray tracks in the PICsIT detector onboard the INTEGRAL satellite

The PICsIT (PIxelated CsI Telescope) instrument is the high energy plane of the IBIS imager onboard the INTEGRAL satellite. PICsIT consists of a 64x64 detector array, each composed of a CsI(Tl) scintillating crystal with p-i-n photodiode readout. Since its first in-orbit activation, several extended tracks have been detected in its images, indicating the presence of frequent electromagnetic and hadronic showers initiated by primary cosmic rays. In this paper we present the peculiar way the showers can form images in the PICsIT detector plane. We show also as the rejection of tracks events can be accomplished thanks to their peculiar geometrical and timing characteristics.

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