IceCube Neutrino Observatory
The IceCube Neutrino Observatory (or simply IceCube) is a neutrino observatory constructed at the Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station in Antarctica. The project is a recognized CERN experiment (RE10). Its thousands of sensors are located under the Antarctic ice, distributed over a cubic kilometre.
IceCube Neutrino Observatory at the South Pole | |||
| Alternative names | IceCube Laboratory | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Organization | IceCube collaboration | ||
| Location | Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station | ||
| Coordinates | 89°59′24″S 63°27′11″W | ||
| Website | icecube | ||
| Telescopes | |||
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Location of IceCube Neutrino Observatory | |||
| Related media on Commons | |||
Similar to its predecessor, the Antarctic Muon And Neutrino Detector Array (AMANDA), IceCube consists of spherical optical sensors called Digital Optical Modules (DOMs), each with a photomultiplier tube (PMT) and a single-board data acquisition computer which sends digital data to the counting house on the surface above the array. IceCube was completed on 18 December 2010.
DOMs are deployed on strings of 60 modules each at depths between 1,450 and 2,450 meters into holes melted in the ice using a hot water drill. IceCube is designed to look for point sources of neutrinos in the teraelectronvolt (TeV) range to explore the highest-energy astrophysical processes.