Neutrinos

• The IceCube Neutrino Observatory has produced the first view of the Milky Way galaxy through the lens of neutrino particles.

ABOUT NEUTRINOS

• Neutrinos are very low mass fundamental particles and they only interact very weakly with other matter.
• They are also called as “ghost particles”.
• Neutrinos are electrically neutral, undisturbed by even the strongest magnetic field.
• The direction from which they arrive points directly back to their original source.
• They are emitted from our galaxy when cosmic rays collide with interstellar matter or they are also produced by some exploding stars, supernovas, gamma-ray bursts and quasars.
• Hence, they can provide us an unprecedented view of highly energetic processes in our galaxy.

ABOUT ICECUBE NEUTRINO OBSERVATORY

• The IceCube Neutrino Observatory is a unique detector encompassing a cubic kilometer of Antarctic ice with over 5,000 light sensors.
• It detects high-energy neutrinos, which possess energies millions to billions of times higher than those produced by stellar fusion reactions.