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 A 12 meter wide acrylic vessel,
now filled with a thousand tons of heavy water, is at the core of the SNO experiment.
Surrounding the vessel, mounted on a geodesic steel support structure, are the
photomultiplier tubes which will record neutrino events.
It may look like the eye of a giant reptile, but in fact it is an ambitious scientific experiment to unravel the mysteries of one of the most common yet most elusive particles in the universe—the neutrino. Built two kilometers under solid rock in a cavity the size of a 10 story building, the
Sudbury Neutrino Observatory (SNO) involves an international collaboration of 70
scientists from the U.S. (including Berkeley Lab), Canada, and Great Britain. Shielded
from interference with ubiquitous cosmic rays, the experiment will allow scientists to
observe the tiny bursts of light that take place when neutrinos collide with other
particles.
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To shoot his steel and acrylic prey,
Lab photographer Roy Kaltschmidt (pictured here in a self portrait) was lowered deep into
SNO's acrylic cavity, where he was surrounded by thousands of photomultipliers. "You
feel like you're in the middle of the Milky Way, with stars blinking all around you,"
he said. 