Scientists have succeeded in finding cosmic neutrinos buried deep within the Antarctic's ice sheet.

The nearly massless subatomic particles are elusive in nature and they are believed to originate from beyond our galaxy's outer reaches. The scientists are hopeful that it would help them learn more about cosmic ray formation.

The discovery was made with help from the IceCube Neutrino Observatory, a scientific facility located near the South Pole. The observatory has several shafts that can reach nearly 8,000 feet depths and its detectors can be used to scan the surrounding ice for the nearly invisible form of matter.

Neutrinos usually originate from supernovas, black holes, galactic centers, nuclear plants, and other high-radiation sources. The particles carry no electric charge and can travel through matter at a very rapid pace as if the matter didn't even exist.

They cannot be detected by human-made detectors but they do find traces left behind after neutrinos collide with matter. There structure makes them rarely collide with other particles, but when they do, they create a new particle called muon. Antarctic scientists focused on finding those muons which are faster than the speed of light.

That radiation hinted researchers that neutrinos are nearby. The researchers also found that across a solid surface such as ice muons travel slower because the speed of light is constant only in empty space.

Since 2010, over 35,000 neutrinos have been detected by the IceCube Neutrino Observatory. About 20 particles had high enough energy to make scientists believe that they had cosmic origins.

Albrecht Karle, senior researcher involved in the study said that the energy of those 20 muon neutrinos showed the particles had an extragalactic origin. "This was a new discovery," Karle added.