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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.

See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest resolution version available.

KamLAND Verifies the Sun

Explanation: A large sphere beneath Japan has helped verify humanity's understanding of the inner workings of the Sun . The KamLAND sphere , shown above during construction in 2001, fails to detect fundamental particles called anti-neutrinos that are known to be emitted by nearby nuclear reactors around Japan . This triumphant failure can best be explained by neutrinos oscillating between different types. KamLAND 's results bolster previous neutrino oscillation claims including that from the Sudbury detector , a similar large sphere beneath Canada designed to detect all types of neutrinos from the Sun . Thus, leading astrophysicists now consider the long standing solar neutrino deficit problem as finally solved. A new mystery that replaces it is to find a new Standard Model for particle physics that fully explains neutrino oscillations.

Date June 23, 2003
Credit Credit: KamLAND Collaboration
Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation & Michigan Tech. U.