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Neutrino astronomy is the science of observing astronomical phenomena by detecting neutrinos, a product of thermonuclear reactions going on inside every star. It is still very much in its infancy - the only confirmed extra-terrestrial sources detected so far are the sun and supernova SN1987A. The neutrino is an elementary particle. ...
In physics, nuclear fusion (a thermonuclear reaction) is a process in which two nuclei join, forming a larger nucleus and releasing energy. ...
The Pleiades star cluster A star is any massive gaseous body in outer space, just like the Sun. ...
A sun is the star at the center of a planetary system. ...
Remnant of Keplers Supernova, SN 1604. ...
1987A supernova remnant near the center SN 1987A was a supernova in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a nearby dwarf galaxy. ...
Observation challenges Neutrinos interact only very rarely with matter. The enormous flux of solar neutrinos racing through our earth is sufficient to produce only 1 interaction for 10^36 target atoms, and each interaction produces only a few photons or one transmuted element. To observe neutrino interactions a large detector mass is required, along with a sensitive amplification system. The neutrino is an elementary particle. ...
The flux visualized. ...
Given the very weak signal, sources of background noise must be reduced as much as possible. The major sources of detector noise are the showers of exotic particles produced by cosmic rays striking the atmosphere, and particles produced by radioactive decay. To avoid cosmic rays, the detectors must be shielded by a large shield mass, and so are constructed deep underground, or underwater. Sources of radioactive isotopes must also be controlled as they produce energetic particles when they decay. An exotic particle is a kind of theoretical particle said to exist by some areas of modern physics whose alleged properties are extremely unusual. ...
Cosmic rays can loosely be defined as energetic particles originating outside of the Earth. ...
Radioactive decay is the set of various processes by which unstable atomic nuclei (nuclides) emit subatomic particles (radiation). ...
In order to produce any kind of image, the detector must provide information not only about the flux of neutrinos, but also their direction of travel. While several methods of detecting neutrinos exist, most do not provide directional information, and the ones that do have poor angular resolution. To improve the angular resolution, a large array of neutrino detectors may be used Resolving power is the ability of a microscope or telescope to measure the angular separation of images that are close together. ...
Detector design The detector design used generally consists of a large mass of water or ice, surrounded by an array of sensitive light detectors known as photomultiplier tubes. This design takes advantage of the fact that particles produced in the interaction of the incoming neutrino with an atomic nucleus typically travel faster than the speed of light in the detector medium (though of course slower than the speed of light in a vacuum). This generates an "optical shockwave" known as Cherenkov radiation which can be detected by the photomultiplier tubes. Water (from the Old English word wæter and the German word Wasser) is a colorless, tasteless, and odorless substance in its pure form that is essential to all known forms of life and is known also as the most universal solvent. ...
Icicles A natural, 4 tonne, block of ice on a beach in Iceland Ice is the solid form of water. ...
Photomultipliers, or photomultiplier tubes (PMT) are extremely sensitive detectors of light in the ultraviolet, visible and near infrared. ...
The nucleus (atomic nucleus) is the center of an atom. ...
Cherenkov effect at the [http://www. ...
The Super-Kamiokande neutrino detector uses a 50,000 tons of pure water surrounded by 11,000 photomultiplier tubes burried 1 km underground. It is able to detect the incident direction of incomming neutrinos by detecting which photomultipliers fire. Kamiokande, the predecessor of Super-Kamokande, was able to detect the burst of neutrinos associated with supernova 1987A, and in 1988 it was used to directly confirm the production of solar neutrinos. Super-Kamiokande, or Super-K for short, is a neutrino observatory in Japan. ...
1987A supernova remnant near the center SN 1987A was a supernova in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a nearby dwarf galaxy. ...
1988 is a leap year starting on a Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
The Antarctic Muon And Neutrino Detector Array (AMANDA) operated from 1996 to 2004. This detector used photomultiplier tubes mounted on strings, buried deep (1.5-2km) inside the glacial ice at the South Pole in Antarctica. The ice itself is used as the detector mass. The direction of incident neutrinos is determined by recording the arrival time of individual photons using a three-dimensional array of detector modules containing one photomultiplier tube each. This method allows detection of neutrinos above 50GeV with a spatial resolution of approximately 2 degrees. AMANDA has been used to generate neutrino maps of the northern sky in order to search for extraterrestrial neutrino sources and in searches for dark matter. AMANDA is currently in the process of being upgraded to the IceCube observatory, eventually increasing the volume of the detector array to one cubic kilometer. The Antarctic Muon And Neutrino Detector Array is a neutrino telescope buried in a depth of about 1500 to 1900 meters under the Antarctic ice cap. ...
1996 is a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty. ...
2004 is a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
Location of the South Pole in the Antarctic continent. ...
For the Science Fiction missile, as seen in Star Trek, see Photon torpedo. ...
An electronvolt (symbol: eV) is the amount of energy gained by a single unbound electron when it falls through an electrostatic potential difference of one volt. ...
A degree (or in full degree of arc), usually symbolized by the symbol °, is a measurement of plane angles, or of a location along a great circle of a sphere (such as the Earth or the celestial sphere), representing 1/360 of a full rotation. ...
In cosmology, dark matter consists of matter particles that cannot be detected by their emitted radiation but whose presence can be inferred from gravitational effects on visible matter such as stars and galaxies. ...
See also Super-Kamiokande, or Super-K for short, is a neutrino observatory in Japan. ...
The Antarctic Muon And Neutrino Detector Array is a neutrino telescope buried in a depth of about 1500 to 1900 meters under the Antarctic ice cap. ...
Project DUMAND (Deep Underwater Muon And Neutrino Detector) was a proposed underwater neutrino telescope to be built in the Pacific Ocean, off the shore of Hawaii, a kilometer beneath the surface. ...
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