Deep in the Abysses
of the Mediterranean Sea
a giant new neutrino telescope
is under construction
What is a neutrino?
Where do neutrinos come from?
How to detect neutrinos?
Learn about KM3NeT and how scientists
will solve the greatest mysteries
of the Universe
will solve the greatest mysteries
of the Universe
KM3NeTA large international Collaboration of scientists are building the World's largest neutrino telescopes at two locations offshore from Southern France and Sicily. In the darkest depths of the abyss, the telescopes catch the faint flashes of blue light produced by neutrinos interacting in the sea.
Notoriously difficult to catch, enormous detectors are needed to collect enough of them to understand their fundamental properties and their cosmic origins. |
NeutrinosNeutrinos are enigmatic particles created in all types of nuclear reactions. Having zero charge, almost no mass and only weakly interacting, they are the closest thing to nothing we can imagine.
Neutrinos play a key role in the workings of the Universe. Copiously produced in the Big Bang, they are the second most abundant particle in the Universe. They are indispensable for the energy generated by the Sun and crucial to understanding why we even exist at all. |
Cosmic NeutrinosA hundred year puzzle waiting to be solved....
The Earth is continually bombarded by cosmic rays, mysterious high energy charged particles probably created in the cataclysmic death throes of exploding stars far across the Universe. By detecting cosmic neutrinos, scientists hope to finally pin down the astrophysical sources of cosmic rays and understand how they can be accelerated to such tremendous energies. |