Approximately 47 million light-years away from you is the galaxy NGC 1068, whose central black hole is spewing out vast quantities of mysterious particles. Neutrinos are the invisible ghost particles that seem to be everywhere at once.
Upon their creation, groups of these undetectable pieces immediately rocket across the vastness of space. They fly quickly through visible stars and into regions of space that may hold wonders we haven’t even imagined yet. They keep on flying till they finally reach the ground. Then, like ghosts, they drill themselves into the South Pole, unseen by humans and unhindered by gravity or other external forces.
Neutrinos travel without any interruptions. However, researchers are still waiting for them to show up.
Located more than 2 kilometers (1.24 miles) below the surface of Antarctica, the IceCube Neutrino Observatory is buried beneath over 1 billion tons of ice. You could refer to it as a neutrino detector. The IceCube experiment is ready and waiting for any neutrinos to bring their group to the icy continent. The NGC 1068’s arrival on Earth was met with no delay.
The publication confirming the detection of these 79 “high-energy neutrino emissions” from the region surrounding NGC 1068 will be published in Science on Friday. The worldwide team behind this ambitious device is responsible for their creation.
This establishes a previously unheard-of origin for the peculiar particle and paves the way for brand new, endlessly intriguing physics. Neutrino astronomy is the term used by researchers.
It would be a subfield of astronomy that fills a gap left by other subfields.
Scientists had previously only demonstrated neutrino emission from the sun, Earth’s atmosphere, radioactive decay, supernovae, and, following the 2017 discovery made possible by IceCube, a blazar, or hungry supermassive black hole aimed squarely at our planet. An emptiness designated TXS 0506+056.
However, with the discovery of a new neutrino source, the history of this particle is starting a new chapter. The research team found that neutrinos from NGC 1068 had millions, billions, or possibly trillions of times more energy than neutrinos from the sun or supernovas. Such numbers are mind-boggling since your body is pierced by a trillion, trillion, trillion neutrinos per second. Really, there’s no way to tell.
To combat a neutrino head-on, you’d need a lead block a light year across, and even then, you’d only have a tiny chance of success. The ability to control these particles, whether they are identical to or different from NCG 1068, could open up hitherto inaccessible regions of the universe.
Someday, neutrinos may even lead us to the very edge of the known cosmos, both in terms of knowledge and light.
