On 17 February 2026, the annual expedition started on Lake Baikal to build the deep underwater cubic-kilometre Baikal-GVD Neutrino Telescope.
The first group of participants arrived at the shore station of the Baikal neutrino observatory to deploy new clusters of the Baikal-GVD Detector. The expedition includes nearly 70 people.
Last year, the weather did not favour a prolonged stay on the ice during the expedition, and not all of the scientists’ plans were fulfilled. Thanks to the stable frosty weather and enough ice thickness for all necessary works, this year’s extensive plans include laying two bottom cables and commissioning two full clusters of standard configuration. The telescope comprising 4284 optical modules reached an effective volume of over 0.7 km3.
The Baikal–GVD Neutrino Telescope is being constructed by the international collaboration with a leading role of the Institute for Nuclear Research of the Russian Academy of Sciences (INR RAS) and the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research. As usual, the expedition was organized by the INR RAS, JINR, and Irkutsk State University.
Photos by Bair Shaibonov
