APOD: 2026 October 11 – Ice Fishing for Cosmic Neutrinos

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				APOD

								Astronomy Picture of the Day

			Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.			

								Ice Fishing for Cosmic Neutrinos

						Explanation: Scientists are melting holes in the bottom of the world. In fact, almost 100 holes melted near the South Pole are now being used as an astronomical observatory. Astronomers with the IceCube Neutrino Observatory lowered a long string knotted with basketball-sized light detectors into each vertical lake. The water in each hole soon refreezes. The detectors attached to the strings are sensitive to blue light emitted in the surrounding clear ice. Such light results from fast-moving secondary particles liberated when high-energy neutrinos emitted by powerful processes out in the universe collide with ice molecules. IceCube has now detected many illuminating neutrinos. Pictured in 2010, one of the last of IceCube's detector strings is lowered into the freezing abyss, making IceCube the largest neutrino detector ever created. In recognition of unprecedented discoveries, it was announced earlier this week that a founding leader of the IceCube Collaboration will be awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics.Tomorrow's picture: Moons Planet						

										Date:
										
											October 11, 2026											

										Credit:
										
											NSF, B. Gudbjartsson, IceCube Collaboration											

										Authors & editors:
										
											Robert Nemiroff, Jerry Bonnell, Cecilia Chirenti, Keighley Rockcliffe											

										A service of:
										
											ASD at NASA / GSFC,NASA Science Activation & Michigan Tech. U.											

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Source: https://science.nasa.gov/image-article/apod-2026-october-11-ice-fishing-for-cosmic-neutrinos/