IceCube Neutrino Observatory
Diagram of the IceCube strings
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| Organization | University of Wisconsin–Madison | ||
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| Location | Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station | ||
| Coordinates | 89°59′24″S 63°27′11″W / 89.99000°S 63.45306°WCoordinates: 89°59′24″S 63°27′11″W / 89.99000°S 63.45306°W | ||
| Website | icecube |
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| Telescope | Neutrino |
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The IceCube Neutrino Observatory (or simply IceCube) is a neutrino telescope constructed at the Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station in Antarctica. Its thousands of sensors are distributed over a cubic kilometre of volume under the Antarctic ice. 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 sixty modules each at depths ranging from 1,450 to 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 TeV range to explore the highest-energy astrophysical processes.
In November 2013 it was announced that IceCube had detected 28 neutrinos that likely originated outside of the Solar System.
The IceCube project is part of the University of Wisconsin–Madison projects developed and supervised by the same institution, while collaboration and funding is provided by numerous other universities and research institutions worldwide. Construction of IceCube was only possible during the Antarctic austral summer from November to February, when permanent sunlight allows for 24-hour drilling. Construction began in 2005, when the first IceCube string was deployed and collected enough data to verify that the optical sensors worked correctly. In the 2005–2006 season, an additional eight strings were deployed, making IceCube the largest neutrino telescope in the world.
Construction was completed on 17 December 2010. The total cost of the project was $279 million USD.
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