An astonishing study out of the Gran Sasso National Laboratory in Italy has found that there are “ghost particles” known as geoneutrinos coming from the center of the Earth that is revealing some amazing facts about our planet.

The scientists were able to pinpoint 24 geoneutrinos, or ghost particles, which is the first firm evidence that they come from beneath the Earth’s crust, according to a Daily Mail report.

This finding could help researchers understand what radioactive elements are within the Earth and how heat is generated via radioactivity and related processes.

Neutrinos are created by nuclear reactions when unstable atoms decay, and because they are so incredibly tiny — about 500,000 times lighter than an electron — they are often called “ghost particles.” They rarely interact with other particles or strike atoms, and they also don’t have a charge.

On the rare moments when they do strike atoms, there is a flash of light, which scientists have used to prove that they exist. Now, using the underground laboratory, they have detected them coming from the interior of the Earth, providing scientists with an opportunity to peak at the center of the Earth.

Researchers can now pinpoint individual radioactive isotopes and then figure out how the heat they generate results in geological activity, including earthquakes and volcanoes.

The Earth’s interior generates a tremendous amount of heat. A lot of it is simply left over from creation, but the rest of it comes as radioactive elements decay, although scientists had no idea how much of it.

But thanks to research at the laboratory, which is about a mile below the Apennine Mountains, scientists were able to see these geoneutrinos or ghost particles with the help of the Borexino neutrino detector, which uses 2,200 sensors in order to spot these rare flashes to catch them when they interact with a special oil that is housed in a sphere at the laboratory.

A total of 24 geoneutrinos were pinpointed in the 2,056 days that data was gathered. Scientists believe 11 came from the mantle of the Earth, and 13 from the crust. This indicates that a whopping 70 percent of the Earth is created by radioactivity.

The findings were published in the journal Physical Review D.