Neutrino Factory in Space: Elementary Particles From the Depths of Our Universe
Embark on a Journey through the Universe: The Discovery of the Extragalactic Neutrino Factory. Credit: © Benjamin Amend For the first time, researchers have uncovered the origin of neutrinos, elementary particles that reach our planet from the depths of the universe. Highly energetic and difficult to detect, neutrinos travel billions of light years before reaching Earth. Although it is known that these elementary particles originate from the depths of our Universe, their exact origin remains a mystery. An international team of researchers, led by the University of Würzburg and the University of Geneva (UNIGE), sheds light on one aspect of the puzzle: neutrinos are thought to have been born in a blazar, the core of a galaxy filled with supermassive black holes. These results were published on July 14 in the journal Astrophysics Journal Letter . The atmosphere of our planet is constantly being bombarded by cosmic rays. It consists of electrically charged particles with very high ene