Speaker
Description
The Payload for Ultrahigh Energy Observations (PUEO) is a NASA Long Duration Balloon-borne mission that flew over Antarctica for 23 days starting in December 2025. PUEO is sensitive to neutrinos interactions in the Antarctic ice that result in Askaryan emission and geomagnetic emission from cosmic rays and tau neutrinos. These neutrinos may arise from cosmogenic neutrinos produced during the propagation of the highest energy cosmic rays or from astrophysical neutrinos at the sources. The main instrument consists of 96 dual-polarized quad-ridged horns operating in the 300-1200 MHz range, while the low frequency instrument includes 8 dual-polarized sinuous antennas sensitive to the 50-500 MHz range. Signals from multiple antennas in the main instrument form beams at the trigger level that enhance the instrumental sensitivity. In this talk, we will present the design and science capabilities of the experiment and include discussion of the planned diffuse and source searches.