MINERνA

MINERνA is not a star-gazing observatory but a neutrino physics experiment, buried 100 metres underground at Fermilab in the United States, where it studies particles rather than stars.

About MINERνA

MINERνA - short for Main INjector ExpeRiment ν-A - is a neutrino scattering experiment at Fermilab, sitting in front of the MINOS near detector roughly 100 metres below ground. It uses Fermilab's NuMI neutrino beamline to study low-energy neutrino interactions.

History

The first test module for the detector was built in early 2007, and full construction was completed in January 2010, after which MINERνA began its programme of measurements.

The detector & research

MINERνA uses a fine-grained scintillator target combined with electromagnetic and hadronic calorimetry, with planes of graphite, iron and lead interleaved through the detector to study how the nucleus affects neutrino interactions. Its measurements support neutrino oscillation experiments elsewhere and probe the strong nuclear dynamics of neutrino-nucleus scattering.

Location & getting there

MINERνA sits underground at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab) in Illinois, United States, integrated into the NuMI beamline infrastructure rather than standing as a stand-alone building.

Visiting MINERνA

As an underground particle-physics detector rather than a visitor site, MINERνA itself is not open to the public; those interested in Fermilab's public tours and outreach programmes should check the laboratory's own visitor information before travelling.

See your named star from here

MINERνA studies particles from deep underground rather than stars overhead, but the same night sky stretches above Fermilab as everywhere else. If you've named a star with Star Register, you can look up its coordinates any time in the star catalogue and find it from wherever you happen to be.