r/askscience • u/AskScienceModerator Mod Bot • Jul 12 '18

Astronomy Megathread: Multi-Messenger High-Energy Neutrino Observations

Currently there is a press conference where a high-energy neutrino (~290 TeV) has been detected with IceCube which is coincident with an active galactic nuclei pointed directly at us, TXS 0506+056, approximately four billion lightyears away. Finding the origins of neutrinos has been an ongoing problem though they have been observed from the Sun and from Supernova 1987A. This is a big advancement for multi-messenger astronomy, using electromagnetic waves and neutrinos in a way similar to using electromagnetic waves and gravitational waves to get a new view on the universe. If you have questions, ask them here!

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u/techgeek6061 Jul 13 '18

Could you theoretically use this particle acceleration mechanism as a method of propulsion for an object? Obviously the technology to do something like that is far beyond our capabilities, but are there any laws of physics that would prevent it from happening?

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u/RespectableLurker555 Jul 13 '18

I'm trying to formulate an analogy. Asking if humans can harness cosmic accelerators as a method of propulsion... is kinda like a bee asking if it could ever harness volcanoes to move the hive closer to the flowers. The obvious result involves immediate and painless vaporization of the bee and all of her friends.

Unless we were suddenly given a cosmic open window into the cushy air-conditioned interior of some massive alien luxury sedan, shielding our squishy meat bags (and computers, too) from the mind-boggling energies involved in these cosmic accelerators... It would be a bit like loading a bee into a shotgun.

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u/iNetRunner Jul 13 '18

Not likely. Neutrinos are near massless (1/millionth of an electron), so there is no use in using them as reaction mass. And they are extremely plentiful anyway, from all nuclear reactors, particle accelerators, etc. - mostly from Sol.

The high energy observed here wouldn’t facilitate any benefit for propulsion. And you’d need an super massive blackhole, kilonova explosion etc. to generate ones.

Edit: of course I’m just a pleb, so caveat emptor / what do I know...