The world's largest neutrino detector, the Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory (Juno), located in Guangdong Province, has been launched in China. This object was created to study the fundamental properties of matter and the universe and has already begun collecting scientific data.
The unique installation is a spherical tank with a diameter of 35 meters, filled with 20 thousand tons of liquid scintillator. The structure is located in a 44-meter-deep underground water basin at a depth of 700 meters underground, which minimizes external interference. Juno will measure the mass of neutrinos generated by the operation of nuclear installations in Taishan and Yangjiang, located 53 kilometers from the facility.
The launch of the project was the result of many years of work of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, which initiated it in 2008. The estimated lifetime of the facility is 30 years, which will allow scientists to obtain data for a comprehensive study of neutrinos and refine models of the structure of matter. Project managers call the launch a historic event for the world of high-energy physics, as it is the first time that a detector of this scale and level of accuracy has been launched.
According to the developers, Juno can contribute to solving key problems of modern science, including determining the mass of neutrinos and studying their properties. These particles play an important role in the formation of the universe, but still remain among the least studied. The chief engineer of the project stressed that the construction of the facility required many years of planning, testing and technical improvements, which makes the completion of the work a significant achievement not only for China, but also for the global scientific community.
