Scientists just detected the most powerful neutrino ever, at 220 million billion electron volts.

his elusive particle was captured by the ARCA detector of the Cubic Kilometre Neutrino Telescope (KM3NeT), located 3,450 meters below the Mediterranean Sea.

The event, named KM3-230213A, marks the first confirmed evidence that the universe produces neutrinos at such extreme energy levels. Researchers believe this detection opens a new chapter in neutrino astronomy, offering a unique opportunity to study the universe’s most violent cosmic events, such as black holes, supernovas, and gamma-ray bursts.

The discovery also highlights the incredible capabilities of deep-sea neutrino telescopes, which detect these ghost-like particles by capturing their faint Cherenkov light as they interact with seawater.

While the exact origin of this record-breaking neutrino remains a mystery, scientists speculate it could have come from a powerful cosmic source or be the first-ever cosmogenic neutrino detected. With only a fraction of KM3NeT’s final configuration currently operational, this finding demonstrates the immense potential of the telescope to revolutionize our understanding of the cosmos.

The study has been published in Nature, and researchers are eager to detect more such events to unravel their origins.

Learn more: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-08543-1