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The IceCube observatory in Antarctica has for the first time confirmed that our galaxy emits high-energy neutrinos.
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Deep beneath the ice of the South Pole, nearly two and a half kilometers down, an unusual telescope is at work. It is not pointed at the sky but through the Earth. Its quarry: neutrinos, nearly elusive particles that pass through planets and stars without interacting with anything. But occasionally a neutrino does collide with an ice molecule, producing a brief flash of light that thousands of sensitive sensors detect.
These light signals accumulated over twelve years. Scientists from the IceCube collaboration analyzed the signal shapes from all three neutrino types and improved ice models. And now the plane of the Milky Way, especially its central region, has emerged as a powerful source of high-energy neutrinos. The statistical significance of the signal is 5.7 sigma, meaning chance is virtually ruled out. From the inner part of the galaxy, 217 events with energies above 5 teraelectronvolts were detected, compared to an expected background of only 154.
Unlike light, neutrinos are not absorbed by dust and gas. They bring news from the densest and most turbulent corners of the cosmos.
Previously, astronomers relied on light and other forms of radiation, but these often get stuck in cosmic dust. Neutrinos, however, are ideal messengers. They tell us where natural particle accelerators hide, accelerating protons to energies beyond even the Large Hadron Collider. Now that the neutrino map of the galaxy is emerging, we can study how these particles travel through magnetic fields and where exactly they are born.
An energy of 5 TeV is comparable to the energy of a flying mosquito, but compressed into a single elementary particle.
This discovery opens an era of galactic multimessenger astronomy, where light, gravitational waves, and neutrinos combine into a unified picture. Antarctic ice has become a window into the heart of the Milky Way.
