MiniBooNE
Like many detectors, this experiment at the Fermi National Accelerator in
Batavia, Illinois investigates the oscillation of neutrinos from one type to
another. Since 2003, it has observed neutrinos created from protons in
Fermilab's particle booster, part of the system that the lab normally employs
to accelerate protons to higher energies for other experiments. MiniBooNE is a
40-foot-in-diameter spherical steel tank filled with 800 tons of mineral oil
and lined with 1,280 phototubes (some of which are being adjusted in this
image) that produce a flash of light when charged particles travel through
them. Analyses of these light flashes are already providing tantalizing
information about the nonzero status of neutrino mass.
