By I. Hansana, Jadetimes News
Scientists Detect Neutrinos from Elusive Solar Process, Marking Major Breakthrough
Scientists have made a significant breakthrough by detecting neutrinos generated through a largely mysterious process within the Sun. This discovery has the potential to provide deeper insights into the Sun's structure, the elements within its core, and other cosmic phenomena like supernovae and distant stars.
The detection was accomplished using the Borexino Collaboration, a large scale particle physics experiment based in Italy, involving researchers from around the world. The primary aim of this experiment is to enhance our understanding of the processes that power the Sun and other stars.
An independent expert described the findings as a "milestone in neutrino physics," highlighting their potential to resolve uncertainties about the composition of the solar core and offer crucial insights into the formation of massive stars. Gabriel D Orebi Gann from the University of California, Berkeley, noted in an accompanying article in Nature that the Borexino Collaboration’s achievement brings us closer to a complete understanding of the Sun and the formation of heavy stars, setting the stage for future research in this field.
Stars emit light through the nuclear fusion of hydrogen into helium, which occurs via two primary processes: the proton proton (pp) chain, involving only hydrogen and helium, and the carbon–nitrogen oxygen (CNO) cycle, where carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen catalyze the fusion. In the Sun and similar sized stars, the pp chain accounts for approximately 99% of the energy produced. While the pp chain has been extensively studied since the early 1970s, with significant contributions from the Borexino experiment, the CNO cycle has remained elusive due to the difficulty in detecting the small number of neutrinos it produces.
However, researchers now report the first ever detection of neutrinos originating from the CNO cycle. This achievement was made possible by the Borexino detector's advanced sensitivity and its ability to filter out background noise, thanks to recent innovations that prevent contamination. This is the first direct evidence of the CNO cycle and the first time humanity has observed this mechanism that converts hydrogen into helium across the universe.
The discovery not only confirms existing theories about the CNO cycle specifically that it contributes only 1% of the Sun's energy but also holds the potential for significant advancements in our understanding of stars. These measurements could help scientists determine the amount of carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen present in stars like the Sun and offer insights into their internal structure.
Moreover, the findings could have implications for understanding heavier stars, which are believed to rely more heavily on the CNO cycle as the dominant energy producing process. The new data could help determine the extent of this reliance, furthering our knowledge of how stars are powered throughout the universe.
