Anomalous light flashes: from astronauts to protontherapy

E.KhanF.Maréchal

R.DendaleC.Mabit

V.CalugaruL.Desjardin

L.Narici

ALTEA(INFN/ESA/NASA)

IPNOrsayProtontherapyCentre,Orsay

E.Khan

Cosmicrays(p,Nuclei,…)

Interac(oninatmosphere

Interac(oninspace

Nucleosynthesis(spallaLon)

Satellites

Astronauts

Auroraborealis

Lightningbolt? Clouds?

LifeonEarth?

E.Khan,IPNO

Spectrum

Solar

GalacLc

UHECR

PredictedbyTobiasin1952C.A.Tobiasetal.,Nature230,596(1971)M.Casolinoetal.,Nature422,680(2003)

Anomalouslightflashes:Phosphenes

ExperiencedbyN.ArmstrongandE.Aldrinin1969L.S.Pinskyetal.,Science183,957(1974)

P.J.McNulty,Single‐eventseffectsexperiencedbyastronautsandmicroelectroniccircuitsflowninspaceIEEETransacLonsonNucl.Sci.43,475(1996)

PrincetonParLcleAccelerator(1970)

6DSSSD380µm

Cosmicrays

ISS

CosmicraysidenLficaLon

L.Narici,ALTEA

p

Whatdotheysee?

W.G.Sannitaetal.,VisionResearch46,2159(2009)

ApolloSkylab

MIR

Eyeorbrain?

• p:largerflux,lowerLETLET:60MeVp:2keV/µm250MeV12C:12keV/µm

• PhosphenesprotontherapycentresstatusLNS(Catania):NophosphenesLomaLinda(CA):No‐>Maybe?ICPO(Orsay):Seenextslides…

Protonsornuclei?

StudyatOrsayprotontherapycentre

• 4x1min55MeVprotonsineyetumour,1010pps

• QuesLonnaireattheendofeachsession

• Firststudy:70paLents

Results

E.Khanetal.,Adv.SpaceResearch45,846(2010)

• 43%seeatleastoneflashduringthetreatment• Colors:blue(61%),white,yellow,purple• Shapes:clouds(39%),dot‐like,linear

• IrradiaLononthereLnaisnotsufficienttotriggerflash• ContaminaLonbyX‐raysandCerenkovphotons:bluecloud,alsodiscardedbysimulaLon

Conclusions

• Database500paLents

• BeamTracking

• ComparisonwithotherfaciliLes

• ContaminaLonbysecondaryXraysorCerenkovphotons

• Roleoftheflux,theLETandphysiology?