Photos: Huge Observatory 1.5 Miles Deep in Antarctic Ice

Drill manager Dennis Duling signs a particle-detecting sensor, part of the newly completed IceCube Neutrino Observatory, in Antarctica in December 2010.

Situated at the geographic South Pole, the U.S. $279 million observatory—the largest of its kind—will search for neutrinos, mysterious subatomic particles that can travel through almost any type of matter.

Neutrinos are born of some the universe's most violent events, such as star explosions, gamma ray bursts, and cataclysmic phenomena involving black holes and neutron stars, according to the IceCube website.

Echoing some undersea neutrino observatories, IceCube is made of up 86 sensor-equipped cables that snake down ice holes as deep as 1.5 miles (2.5 kilometers). The cables are linked to a surface laboratory.

Photos: Huge Observatory 1.5 Miles Deep in Antarctic Ice