Baikal-GVD

The Baikal Gigaton Volume Detector (GVD) is a neutrino telescope designed to detect high-energy neutrinos originating from astrophysical sources deep in the universe. By capturing these elusive elementary particles, scientists hope to study distant cosmic events like supernovae and black holes.

Deep, clear water provides a massive, dark medium that filters out other types of radiation, allowing the neutrino detector's optical sensors to spot the faint flashes of Cherenkov radiation. Lake Baikal is incredibly deep and features some of the clearest freshwater on Earth, making it an ideal natural laboratory.

The observatory is currently in a phased deployment stage, having begun its first cluster installations in the mid-2010s and continuing to expand. It is already actively collecting scientific data while researchers work toward reaching its full cubic-kilometer scale.

Baikal-GVD is the first large-volume neutrino telescope deployed in the Northern Hemisphere, whereas IceCube is located at the South Pole. Together, they allow scientists to view the entire sky from two different hemispheres, providing comprehensive coverage for cosmic neutrino tracking.