Speaker
Description
The Taishan Antineutrino Observatory (JUNO-TAO) is a satellite detector of the Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory (JUNO), located 44 m from the 4.6 GW$_{\mathrm{th}}$ core of Unit 1 of the Taishan Nuclear Power Plant. Its primary goal is a precision measurement of the reactor electron-antineutrino ($\bar{\nu}_e$) spectrum with unprecedented energy resolution, providing a model-independent reference crucial to JUNO's determination of the neutrino mass ordering. Additional physics goals include testing nuclear databases, studying the 5 MeV spectral excess, measuring isotope-specific IBD rates, and searching for light sterile neutrinos. The Central Detector employs 2.8 tonnes of Gd-doped liquid scintillator read out by 4024 SiPM tiles covering ${\sim}95\%$ of the inner surface, operated at $-50^\circ$C to suppress the dark count rate, yielding ${\sim}4500$ photoelectrons per MeV. Detector installation was completed in January 2025, commissioning concluded at the end of 2025, and physics data-taking began in early 2026 with an expected rate of ${\sim}1200$ IBD events per day in the fiducial volume ($R<650$ mm). We report on detector commissioning and early performance, together with first physics results from the initial data-taking period.
