Computer display of a neutrino from supernova SN 1987a in the Large Magellanic Cloud, recorded by the IMB detector. The supernova, the brightest for a

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Computer display of a neutrino from supernova SN 1987a in the Large Magellanic Cloud, recorded by the IMB detector. The supernova, the brightest for almost 400 years, was due to the explosion of supergiant star Sanduleak -69 202. The explosion produced a burst of neutrinos, some 300 trillion of which traversed the IMB detector within a few seconds at 0735 hours Greenwich Mean Time on 23 February, 1987; 8 were recorded. The display shows an outline of the detector, a tank of ultrapure water 600m down in a salt mine in Ohio. The circle of yellow crosses is due to a positron, which was produced with a neutron when an antineutrino from the supernova collided with a proton in the water.

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Size: 4766px × 3744px
Photo credit: © IMB COLLABORATION/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: 1987a, astronomy, cosmology, death, imagery, imb, irvine-michigan-brookhaven, neutrino, odyssey, science, sn1987a, star, stellar, supernova