Uncovering the Universe's Invisible Messengers: Groundbreaking Discovery from IceCube Neutrino Observatory

Author: Duan Yuechu

Imagine that we live in a world full of mysteries, with many particles flying in the air that we cannot see with our naked eyes. These particles are called neutrinos, which are subatomic particles that come from violent events in the universe, such as star explosions and black hole activities. Because they have very small mass and can easily pass through gas clouds and planets, they are difficult to detect.

However, a major scientific breakthrough has recently brought us closer to understanding these mysterious particles. Using the IceCube Neutrino Observatory, located underground in Antarctica, a team of scientists has successfully detected high-energy neutrinos in our own galaxy. This discovery has important implications for our understanding of how the most energetic events in the universe occur.
Neutrino astronomy is just beginning

Neutrino astronomy is a relatively new discipline. For most of human history, we could only study the universe by observing light. However, cosmic entities do not only emit light. Neutrinos, as non-luminous particles, provide us with another way to observe the universe.

The IceCube neutrino detector is a massive device located in the Antarctic ice 0.9 miles below the surface. It consists of 5,160 basketball-sized modules encased in a cubic kilometer of Antarctic ice. When neutrinos interact with ice particles, they create a series of events in the detector that scientists use to detect the presence of neutrinos.

In the process of searching for neutrinos, scientists encountered many difficulties. Neutrinos hardly interact with matter, so detecting them is very difficult. In addition, they must eliminate a lot of background noise in order to extract the real neutrino signal. To achieve this goal, scientists use the earth itself as a barrier and adopt some creative methods to mine the background and extract the signal.
Neutrino glow in the Milky Way

The neutrinos detected this time may be related to a 110-year-old mystery called cosmic rays. Cosmic rays are high-energy particles that come from space and bombard Earth. Physicists have been working hard to understand the origin of cosmic rays, but they still don't know what makes these particles reach such extreme energies.

These newly detected neutrinos may be the result of cosmic rays interacting with matter in our galaxy. When cosmic rays collide with matter, they produce high-energy neutrinos. By studying these neutrinos, scientists hope to unravel the mystery of the origin of cosmic rays.
Looking ahead, as more neutrino detectors come online, we will be able to better study neutrinos and their role in cataclysmic events. These detectors will help us further understand the mysteries of the universe and reveal how the most violent events in the universe occur.
References;

Extreme 'ghostly' particles detected in our galaxy for the first time https://www.nationalgeographic.com/premium/article/neutrinos-milky-way-galaxies-ice-cube-discovery