  We present an experimental scheme which combines the well established method
of velocity-mapimaging, with a cold trapped metastable neon target. The device
is used for obtaining the branching ratios and recoil-ion energy distributions
for the penning ionization process in optical collisions of ultracold
metastable neon. The potential depth of the highly excited dimer potential is
extracted and compared with theoretical calculations. The simplicity to
construct, characterize and apply such a device, makes it a unique tool for the
low-energy nuclear physics community, enabling opportunities for precision
measurements in beta- and beta-delayed-neutron decays of cold, trapped,
short-lived radioactive isotopes.
