The Helium and Lead Observatory (HALO) is a dedicated supernova neutrino detector that is presently under construction underground at SNOLAB in the Creighton Mine in Sudbury Ontario Canada.
It uses 76 tonnes of annular lead blocks instrumented with 128 tubular Helium-3 neutron detectors to detect neutrinos from supernovae within our galaxy. As a part of the worldwide Supernova Early Warning System (SNEWS), it will help detect supernovae by their neutrino burst, before their light reaches Earth, allowing time to notify both professional and amateur astronomers.
October 15 , 2010
Neutron Counter RelocationThe first of two NCD racks was completed this week. A team of 6 relocated approximately half of the Helium-3 neutron counters to the HALO drift from the SNO control room.
August 4, 2010
Taylor Shantz Defends M.Sc. ThesisHALO's first graduate student successfully defended her Master's Thesis on the "Design and Construction of the Helium and Lead Observatory for Supernova Neutrinos." She will graduate this fall.
March 29, 2010
Construction of the lead array is completeAll 864 lead blocks are now assembled in the HALO array. The supporting superstructure on top of the array has also been included. Altogether the HALO lead assembly took 19 days.