Telescope for the detection of neutrinos in the Mediterranean

1999/12/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Fisika

Antares has begun to locate the first network of telescope detectors in the Mediterranean, 50 km from the French coast, with 13 networks in three years.

The project is financed by 14 European institutions, 2,500 million pesetas. has cost 300x300m in the bottom of the sea. The objective of this gigantic project is to detect neutrinos of great energy that arrive from space to Earth. The researchers are aware of the existence of these neutrinos, since they have detected protons and nuclei of this type, but so far no neutrinos have been detected. The interaction between matter and neutrinos is very weak, but the light they generate can be detectable in large volumes of water or ice.

Neutrinos, unlike nuclei and protons, maintain their original trajectory (the magnetic fields in space do not affect neutrinos because they have no charge) and are very useful for locating galaxies and distant stars. In Antarctica there is already a similar telescope called Amanda.