Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory
The Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory (JUNO) is an ambitious international experiment located 700 meters underground in Jiangmen, China, 53 km from the Yangjiang and Taishan nuclear power plants. Its main objective is to determine the mass order of neutrinos and to measure with high precision their oscillation parameters, a phenomenon that allows these particles to change their identity as they travel.
The heart of the detector is a gigantic 35-meter-high acrylic sphere, the largest of its kind in the world, which will contain 20,000 tons of scintillator liquid, the key substance for capturing neutrino interactions. This sphere will be surrounded by thousands of photomultipliers (PMTs) and submerged in ultrapure water to protect it and ensure a stable detection environment.
Designed to achieve an unprecedented 3% energy resolution, JUNO is poised to be the world's largest and most sensitive neutrino detector. Data collection is scheduled to begin in August 2025, with an estimated lifetime of 30 years.
JUNO has an international collaboration of 750 scientists and engineers from 74 institutions in 17 countries, and is part of a trio of the world's major neutrino research centers, along with Hyper-Kamiokande (Japan) and DUNE (USA). Its study could answer fundamental questions about the evolution and fate of the universe.
