By: Johnn Jin
Ghost particles are giving us a new view of our universe. “Ghost particles” are known as neutrinos; these subatomic particles have little mass and no electric charge. The reason they are called ghost particles is because they can pass through things like gas, dust, and even stars without a trace. No one really knows where the particles come from, but we know that the neutrinos zip everywhere throughout the cosmos, carrying information about distant places.
Telescopes can rely on X-rays, gamma rays or the charged particles that make up cosmic rays as well as visible light. All of those waves can be absorbed as they go through space, unlike neutrinos. Scientists found the Milky Way particles using a neutrino detector in Antarctica. Called IceCube, this detector is embedded deep in the ice.
Researchers have found out that the neutrinos stay inside of the Milky Way. They mapped the particles to create a new image of our galaxy. And on the map, there are high energy neutrinos that could be from old supernovas.
On June 30 the new map of our galaxy was unveiled. “There’s so much more to learn,” said Kate Scholberg, a physicist at Duke University. “It can be tremendously fun to figure out how to see the universe with neutrino eyes.” Some people believe that the neutrino “eyes” can help us see parts of the see the galaxy no telescope can see.