Neutrino's


		What is a Neutrino ?

	The neutrino is a light (some say massless), neutral particle, virtually non-interacting with matter. Millions and millions of them are crossing the Earth at each second, but only very few of them would interact with the Earth. In practice you can say - they are invisible.


	Where Do Neutrino's Come From?

Trillions of neutrinos pass through our bodies every second !

Almost all of the neutrino's that pass through our bodies are produced in fusion reactions in the Sun's core. However, neutrino production is not just confined to our galaxy. When massive stars die, most of their energy is released as neutrinos in violent supernova explosions.

Even though supernovas can appear as bright as galaxies when viewed with optical telescopes, this light represents only a small fraction of the energy released.


	So How Can We Detect Them?

They can be detected by building a very large detector and waiting for a long period of time.

For example the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory that is the detector described on this website.




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	Andrea T. Hughes - March 2004