Astrophysics and neutrinos

This seminar is primarily intended for CERN guides. The formation of sun-like stars, their life cycle, and their final destiny will be explained in simple terms, appropriate for the majority of our visitors. An overview of the nuclear reaction chains in our sun will presented (Standard Solar Model), with special emphasis on the production of neutrinos and their measurement in underground detectors. These detectors are also able to record high-energy cosmic neutrinos. Since many properties of neutrinos are still unknown, a brief description of table-top and nuclear reactor experiments is included, as well as those using beams from particle accelerators. Measurements with a variety of space telescopes complement the knowledge of our universe, previously limited to the visible range of the electromagnetic spectrum.