CERN announced Wednesday the discovery of two never-before-seen subatomic particles that could widen our understanding of the universe.

Particle physicists working at the Large Hadron Collider found the new particles in an experiment

The two particles, dubbed Xi_b'- and Xi_b*-, are known as heavyweights. Their existence has been predicted and both are baryons. Just like protons, these particles are made from three quarks bound together by a strong force.

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"This exciting discovery reveals two previously unobserved combinations of three quarks, filling in a further part of the jigsaw and allowing physicists to understand the workings of the strong force in greater detail," said Prof. Andy Parker of the department of high energy physics at the Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge, England.

He added the discovery could shed more light on how things work beyond the "Standard Model" physics theory that explains the basic building blocks of matter.

The new particles are over six times more massive than protons, according to scientists from the Switzerland-based nuclear research facility.

The heavier weight of the two particles is due, in part, to the fact they "spin" in opposite directions. This is "an exciting result," said Steven Blusk of Syracuse University in New York.

The discovery was published in the journal, Physical Review Letters.

TagsSubatomic Particles, CERN, baryons, protons, understanding universe, physics, Standard Model, Xi_b'-, Xi_b'-