Sudbury Neutrino Observatory

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The Sudbury Neutrino Observatory (SNO) is a facility, located 2km underground at INCO's Creighton Mine, in Sudbury, Ontario.  The main objectives were to detect the fundamental particles called neutrinos which are copiously emitted in nuclear fusion in the centre of the Sun.  Their detection reveals information both about the conditions of the solar core and the particles themselves.  The collaboration of scientists working at SNO have announced the results for two out of three phases of the experiment, and have verified the solar core temperature is very close to the value predicted by solar models, as well as that neutrinos have mass and can morph from one type into another, whimsically called 'flavour change'.  Results from phase 3, will provide an independent check of the results from the previous 2 phases and tighten the bounds on various parameters.  This will help us understand more about the Universe.  The SNO project is possible is due to Canada being in a unique position of possessing heavy water which is used in the CANDU nuclear reactors, as a moderator.  The heavy water allows us to detect all flavours of neutrinos.