ASTRO-110 Lecture Notes - Lecture 29: Sudbury Neutrino Observatory, Galactic Coordinate System, Cherenkov Detector
18 Sep 2020
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Document Summary
The sudbury neutrino observatory (sno) results have provided revolutionary insight into the properties of neutrinos and the core of the sun. The detector, shown in the artist"s conception below, was built 6800 feet under ground, in inco"s creighton mine near. Sno was a heavy-water cherenkov detector designed to detect neutrinos produced by fusion reactions in the sun. It used 1000 tonnes of heavy water loaned from atomic energy of canada limited (aecl), and contained by a 12 meter diameter acrylic vessel. Neutrinos reacted with the heavy water (d2o) to produce flashes of light called cherenkov radiation. This light was then detected by an array of. 9600 photomultiplier tubes mounted on a geodesic support structure surrounding the heavy water vessel. The detector was immersed in light (normal) water within a 30 meter barrel-shaped cavity (the size of a 10 story building!) excavated from norite rock.
