UAE scientists' role in astrophysics breakthrough highlights growing appeal of space sector

Khalifa University researchers part of a major international collaboration that has identified an ultra-high-energy particle called a neutrino

PhD student Abdulrahman Rashed Alhebsi, Dr Arjen Van Vliet, assistant professor in the Department of Physics, and Dr Satyendra Thoudam, assistant professor in the Department of Physics at Khalifa University in Abu Dhabi. Ahmed Ramzan for The NationalShow less

Scientists in the UAE have played a key role in a breakthrough that promises to change how astrophysicists view the world.

The consortium, including researchers from Khalifa University in Abu Dhabi, identified a neutrino, or "ghost particle", packing 30 times more energy than any other yet detected. A telescope in the depths of the Mediterranean Sea, the Cubic Kilometre Neutrino Telescope, also known as the KM3NeT, provided the data that allowed researchers to arrive at their findings.

It comes as interest in astrophysics and space research among UAE scientists and students is surging, while the country is consolidating its reputation as a key player in the global space race. The detection of the ultra-high-energy neutrino, one of only a few hundred identified, was revealed this month in the journal Nature.

“This is the first time that we’ve measured the highest-energy neutrino and the energy we’re talking about is in terms of 100 million billion times the energy of visible light,” said Dr Satyendra Thoudam, assistant professor in the department of physics at Khalifa, who was involved with the telescope project.

“This has actually opened a new window on the universe. At the same time, it’s [also] opened a new window to study the energy of the ultra-high-energy rays and their propagation in the universe, which is one of the most fundamental problems in astrophysics.”

Neutrinos can be used, he said, to study the distant universe and processes inside astrophysical objects, and offer “a completely new way of looking at the universe”. The particles, which have a tiny mass and no electrical charge, can pass without trace through almost anything, giving rise to their nickname of ghost particles.

An artist's impression of the KM3NeT telescope project, which is expected to eventually encompass multiple sites in Europe. Edward Berbee/Nikhef

Glowing in numbers

Nearly all particles, including electrons (negatively charged particles) and protons (positively charged particles) are absorbed by water but neutrinos, while they can pass through more easily, cause the generation of a bluish glow called Cherenkov light, which the telescope detects.

The KM3NeT is stationed about 40km off the coast of France and, while construction on the project began years ago, is not yet complete but is expected to be able detect many more neutrinos in years to come.

Analysis of Cherenkov light allows researchers to work out how much energy the neutrino has and from which direction it came. Potentially travelling from the farthest reaches of the universe, neutrinos are generated by the break-up or the coming together of atomic nuclei.

According to the US Department of Energy, tens of trillions of neutrinos, which are the most common particle with any mass in the universe, pass through the human body every second. The high-energy level of the neutrino detected suggests it was produced during a major celestial event, such as a catastrophic star explosion called a supernova, or in a black hole.

More than 350 scientists from institutions in at least 20 countries are involved in the KM3NeT collaboration, so called because the telescope, will eventually cover a cubic kilometre. Khalifa University became an observer partner in 2021 and graduated to full membership in July last year, since when Dr Thoudam, who joined the university in 2019, said the university had “started to get more involved”.

Dr Thoudam, who after leaving his native India worked in the Netherlands and Sweden before joining Khalifa in 2019, said the broader field of research into astrophysics and related subjects was growing in the UAE.

“You have the UAE Space Agency and many other projects related to this going on in different universities, including Khalifa University,” he said. “There are groups very actively involved in the UAE space programme. As far as astrophysics is concerned, it’s part of space research and it’s a growing field.”

Also involved in the KM3NeT collaboration is Abdulrahman Alhebsi, an Emirati PhD student, 25, at Khalifa who has bachelor’s and master’s degrees in astrophysics and theoretical physics from the University of Sheffield and the University of Edinburgh in the UK.

Mr Alhebsi, from Ras Al Khaimah, said he was keen to come back to the Emirates because of the strength of the university’s research into astroparticle physics. His interest in the subject dates from his childhood, encouraged by his father. “He always used to tell me how large and big the universe is. It grew the interest in me,” Mr Alhebsi said.

Today, his astrophysics research, supervised by Dr Thoudam and another assistant professor, Dr Arjen van Vliet, sees him using complex software to process reams of digital information.

“It involves coding and trying to analyse the data we have using a programming language,” he said. It’s mostly looking at the screen and coding."

Dr van Vliet, a Dutch citizen who completed his doctorate in Germany and joined Khalifa in 2022, said space and related fields had become “one of the big pillars” of the UAE’s research activities and was generating much interest among young people.

“There’s a large interest here,” he said. “You can tell that from the students. There’s a lot of interest in astronomy … [and in] astro particle physics. If you look at the university, here we have got very large student groups, a physics club and astronomy club.

"These clubs are very popular and they organise field trips to go stargazing. There’s a lot of interest in the students in astronomy in general. A lot is motivated from the interest that came from the government … which promoted space research, space science. That’s definitely had an impact.”

The UAE’s space programme has involved, among other things, the launch of the Hope Mars orbiter and plans to explore the asteroid belt beyond the Red Planet are afoot. Two Emirati astronauts, Hazza Al Mansouri and Sultan Al Neyadi, have travelled into space and only last week the head of the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre, Salem Al Marri, told the World Governments Summit he was keen to see an Emirati astronaut on the Moon within a decade.

The commercial space sector is growing fast, with companies such as Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin grabbing headlines with their low Earth-orbit missions.