Table of Contents
What can a neutrino be used for?
Neutrinos have the potential to do amazing things like speed up global communication, detect the presence of nuclear weapons, and even confirm the presence of elusive dark matter.
What is a neutrino How are they detected and why is it important for astronomers to detect neutrinos?
A neutrino is a subatomic particle that is very similar to an electron, but has no electrical charge and a very small mass, which might even be zero. Neutrinos are one of the most abundant particles in the universe. To detect neutrinos, very large and very sensitive detectors are required.
Why do astronomers studying neutrinos?
Neutrino astronomy is the branch of astronomy that observes astronomical objects with neutrino detectors in special observatories. Therefore, neutrinos offer a unique opportunity to observe processes that are inaccessible to optical telescopes, such as reactions in the Sun’s core.
What technology is used to know about neutrinos?
Because neutrinos only weakly interact with other particles of matter, neutrino detectors must be very large to detect a significant number of neutrinos. Neutrino detectors are often built underground, to isolate the detector from cosmic rays and other background radiation.
Can you see a neutrino?
The problem for physicists is that neutrinos are impossible to see and difficult to detect. So that neutrinos aren’t confused with cosmic rays (subatomic particles from outer space that do not penetrate the earth), detectors are installed deep underground.
What are neutrino telescopes?
Neutrino telescopes are another kind of telescope to go alongside telescopes for visible light, x-rays, infrared, ultraviolet, microwave, radio, gamma ray and gravity waves. They can look deep into space for the sources of cosmic rays and to study supernovae and they can reveal the structure inside the Earth.
How do you observe neutrinos?
A neutrino is able to react with an atom of gallium-71, converting it into an atom of the unstable isotope germanium-71. The germanium was then chemically extracted and concentrated. Neutrinos were thus detected by measuring the radioactive decay of germanium.
How does a neutrino telescope work?
When neutrinos smash into protons or neutrons inside an atom, they produce secondary particles that give off a blue light called Cherenkov radiation. You need a large, transparent detector shielded from daylight to see them, so scientists build them deep underwater or embedded in ice.