Neutrinos are weakly interacting particles that are able to travel unhindered through the cosmos. The IceCube Neutrino Observatory, embedded in a cubic kilometer of Antarctic ice, searches for neutrinos and captures them at different energies. By measuring the entire spectrum of astrophysical neutrinos, scientists can gain insights into the origin and acceleration mechanisms of highly […]
A small plane found itself parked in behind some other aircraft at the South Pole last week, but it was next in line to depart. Instead of moving the planes in front of it out of the way, they found a simpler solution by attaching the tail wheel of the plane to a bulldozer and […]
Over the years, the IceCube Neutrino Observatory at the South Pole has collected an abundant amount of muons and neutrinos produced in the Earth’s atmosphere. These neutrinos are produced when high-energy particles called cosmic rays collide with atoms in the Earth’s atmosphere and produce “air showers” that rain down on Earth. Previous studies showed that […]
The station is technically closed for the winter season, but there are still some Basler planes (and their pilots) transitioning from other Antarctic research stations that have stopped temporarily at the South Pole. IceCube winterovers Joe and Ilya were busy last week finishing up various outdoor tasks before the weather becomes too cold. Below the […]
When a muon neutrino crashes into the ice, it sometimes produces a hadronic shower and a muon, which are then detected by one of the 5,000 sensors of the IceCube Neutrino Observatory. This hadronic shower carries a fraction of the energy of the original neutrino. This fraction is described by a parameter known as inelasticity. […]
Since November of last year, a team of IceCube engineers and scientists have been hard at work during the second of three consecutive field seasons for the IceCube Upgrade. Over the course of the season, 37 team members, including 27 drill engineers and 10 installation and operations experts, were deployed to the U.S. National Science […]
Ever since high-energy astrophysical neutrinos were first observed in 2013, the IceCube Neutrino Observatory at the South Pole has continued searching for their elusive sources. Thus far, evidence of high-energy neutrino emission has been found from the blazar TXS 0506+056, the active galaxy NGC 1068, and most recently, the Milky Way. Still, neutrino emission from […]
And just like that, summer’s over and winter begins. At the Pole last week, a bunch of winterovers stood out on the ice as the last of the summer personnel boarded their plane headed for McMurdo Station, the first leg of their trip home. Below we see front and back views of the IceCube Lab […]
A white rainbow? Well, yes—it’s also called a fogbow! Fogbows are rarer than rainbows, and guess what—they’re sometimes referred to as “ghost rainbows.” Sound familiar? More and more summer personnel were leaving the Pole last week, as final touches were put in place to winterize IceCube Upgrade equipment. […]
Neutrinos are tiny, nearly massless particles that traverse long distances across the universe, interacting with matter only through the weak force. During their journey through the atmosphere and Earth, they can transform, or “oscillate” from one “flavor”—electron, muon, and tau—to another. This phenomenon has led scientists to conclude that neutrinos have nonzero masses, but despite […]