Magnetospheric and solar physics observations with the PAMELA experiment

PAMELA is a satellite-borne experiment designed to make long duration measurements of the cosmic radiation in Low Earth Orbit. It is devoted to the detection of the cosmic-ray spectra in the 100 MeV–300 GeV range with primary scientific goal the measurement of antiproton and positron spectra over the largest energy range ever achieved. Other tasks include the search for antinuclei with unprecedented sensitivity and the measurement of the light nuclear component of cosmic rays. In addition, PAMELA can investigate phenomena connected with solar and Earth physics. The apparatus consists of: a Time of Flight system, a magnetic spectrometer, an electromagnetic imaging calorimeter, a shower tail catcher scintillator, a neutron detector and an anticoincidence system. In this work we present some measurements of galactic, secondary and trapped particles performed in the first months of operation.