IceCube observes neutrinos by detecting the light emitted by the charged particles which are produced when a neutrino interacts in the ice or the bedrock close to IceCube. A neutrino's properties, such as its energy and arrival direction, can be estimated by the number and pattern of the light detected.

In the event display here, grey dots mark the IceCube optical sensors. Coloured spheres indicate sensors which have detected light; the colour indicates the relative timing of the hit sensors (from red for the first through to blue for the last), the radius of the sphere indicates the amount of light.