Chinese physicists are completing work on the Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory, or JUNO, which will detect so-called ghost particles, or neutrinos.. They are extremely light subatomic particles with no electrical charge.. Physicists want to find out which of the three types of neutrinos is the heaviest, writes Popular Mechanics.
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Every second, trillions of neutrinos pass through our body. These particles can create both stars and nuclear decay processes on Earth. It is known that three types of neutrinos can change from one type to another. If we accurately determine which of these types of neutrinos is the heaviest, this will make it possible to understand what processes occurred in the very first hours and days after the Big Bang. It will also help to figure out why all the matter that makes up the Universe is the way it is..
Neutrinos are often called ghost particles because they are extremely difficult to detect.. The new Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory, or JUNO, is tasked with detecting these particles and determining their properties.. The neutrino observatory's detector was specially built underground to avoid the background noise encountered when searching for elusive particles.
At the center of the detector, located 700 meters underground, there is an acrylic sphere about 35 meters wide.. It will be filled with 20,000 tons of water. Chinese physicists say it is the largest neutrino detector of its kind in the world.. The sphere is covered with sensors that will be able to detect any disturbances in the liquid inside, because it is these movements that contain evidence of the passage of neutrinos.
Chinese physicists will analyze data on neutrinos produced by two nearby nuclear power plants as a byproduct of nuclear decay. The new detector will also be able to observe neutrinos emanating from the Sun, as well as those that arise from the radioactive decay of uranium and thorium in the bowels of the Earth..
The JUNO neutrino observatory is expected to begin operations later this year as its construction is almost complete.
About 100 years ago, physicists first predicted the existence of neutrinos, which are the product of nuclear reactions throughout the Universe.. This means that nuclear power plants create neutrinos in the same way as the Sun and other stars.
As Focus already wrote, scientists have found that we consist of a chemical element that was outside the Milky Way. Scientists have obtained new data about the circumgalactic environment and found that it acts as a conveyor belt for the transfer of heavy chemical elements from outside the galaxy back into it.
Focus also wrote that astronomers have discovered a long-predicted double supermassive black hole in the center of another galaxy. It is believed that two supermassive black holes can orbit each other until they merge into one object..