Chinese scientists plan largest underwater neutrino telescope to learn origin of cosmic radiation
- US$300 million telescope will help pin down sources of the extremely high-energy particles constantly bombarding Earth
- Possible sites include Lake Baikal in Siberia, which offers collaboration with Russian scientists and the chance to assemble the telescope on ice in winter
A team of Chinese scientists plans to build the world’s largest underwater neutrino telescope and help uncover the origin of cosmic radiation.
Whichever site is chosen, the gigantic observatory will have more than 55,000 detectors throughout 30 cubic kilometres (7.2 cubic miles) looking for traces of cosmic neutrinos – tiny, ghostly subatomic particles that carry key messages from the distant universe.
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“At this point, we are still looking at funding possibilities and developing key components. The detectors we need are 20 inches [51cm] across – larger than anything readily available on the market,” said Cao Zhen, of the Institute of High Energy Physics in Beijing, who is Lhaaso chief scientist and leader of the new project.
“We have plans to meet with Russian scientists in August and deploy the first string of detectors in the lake for testing purposes next year.”
Scientists in Russia were “undoubtedly” willing to collaborate with Chinese colleagues, said Grigory Domogatsky from the Institute for Nuclear Research, of the Russian Academy of Sciences in Moscow.