JUNO will help in solving mysteries related to Neutrinos such as their origin, interaction with other particles, etc.
What are Neutrinos?
- Neutrino is a subatomic particle with mass much smaller than other elementary particles.
- There are three types of neutrinos: Electron, Muon, and Tauon neutrino.
- Neutrinos change between types as they travel. This process is called neutrino oscillation.
- Key Characteristics:
- It has spin of 1/2 with a net neutral charge.
- It travels at almost the speed of light and in straight lines from their source.
- It rarely interacts with other matter (therefore also referred to as ghost particle).
- They are the most abundant particles that have mass in the universe.
- The only ways they interact is through gravity and the weak force.
JUNO’s contribution in studying Neutrinos and its significance
- It would be able to observe neutrinos from the sun, gaining a real-time view of solar processes.
- It could also study neutrinos given off by the radioactive decay of uranium and thorium in the Earth to better understand mantle convection driving tectonic plates.
- It may provide information to probe the most violent astrophysical sources like exploding stars, gamma-ray bursts, etc.
Key Neutrino Observatories
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Note: Juno Mission was launched by NASA to observe Jupiter in 2011.
