Lake Baikal is
deepest lake of the world. It is located in the region of Siberia in Russia.
Russian scientists have developed world’s biggest underwater telescopes called Baikal- GVD (Gigaton Volume Detector).
It is to be deployed in the waters of Lake Baikal. It is an international
project in the field of neutrino astronomy. By this mission, it is possible to
study about the most mysterious particle of our universe i.e. NEUTRINO. It will
aid scientists to know about the origin of universe and even about the
supernovas and nuclear reactions in the sun. Neutrinos are everywhere with no
electric charge and no mass. They weakly interact or do not interact with the
forces around them. So that’s why it is really challenging task to detect
them.
Just like
Baikal- GVD, the other two largest neutrino detectors are deployed as ANTARES
in Mediterranean Sea and other the IceCube at the South Pole.
Baikal- GVD: Its
primary goal is to study the flux of high energy cosmic neutrinos and its
sources. Telescope was submerged to 2500-4300 feet, about 4km from shore. Water
is an effective medium to detect neutrinos. Lake Baikal is most suitable for
this observation because of its depth.
What
makes neutrino most interesting?
Neutrinos are second most abundant particle
in our universe after photons. Trillions of neutrinos are passing through our
body in every single second. Although their numbers are so huge, still it is so
difficult to catch them. Why? This is because they do not posses any charge and
does not interact with anything. Scientists also state that neutrinos might
posses some unique properties which may helps us understanding that why this
universe is made of matter rather than antimatter.
But why we are detecting neutrinos under water or in ice?
The answer is: when one out of trillion neutrinos interacts,
it may leave a flash of light or a line of bubbles which can be detected by
large detectors like Baikal GVD. This telescope or we may say detector is
designed to detect high energy neutrinos which may be coming from supernovas occurring
somewhere in our universe, or may be from nuclear reactions in our sun, or may
be from earth’s core.
