Neutrinos from our Sun hold the secrets to nuclear fusion
Summary
This deuterium nucleus then merges with a third proton, releasing gamma radiation (this energy then spends hundreds of thousands of years working its way to the surface of the Sun, where we see and feel it as light and heat). The end product of this reaction, carbon 13 (with an extra neutron) fuses with a second proton, releasing further gamma radiation and producing a nucleus of stable nitrogen (14 N). If living underground was good enough for the Morlocks… Located 1400 meters (4,600 feet) beneath the Gran Sasso mountain in Italy, the Borexino detector aims to find these neutrinos, allowing astronomers to understand fusion processes occurring deep inside the Sun. These arrive from space, and although a large amount of Earth covering the detector stops most of these particles, a percentage makes it through and is detected as false positives in the massive tank. This result, therefore, paves the way towards a direct measurement of the solar metallicity using CNO neutrinos,” researchers describe in an article detailing the study, published in the journal Nature.