Observation of neutrino interactions in the OPERA detector

OPERA is a long baseline neutrino oscillation experiment designed to observe $\nu_{\mu} \to \nu_{\tau}$ oscillations by looking at the appearance of $\nu_{\tau}$'s in an almost pure $\nu_\mu$ beam. The beam is produced at CERN and sent towards the Gran Sasso INFN laboratories where the experiment is running. OPERA started its data taking in October 2007, when the first 38 neutrino interactions where successfully located and reconstructed. This paper reviews the status of the experiment discussing its physics potential and performances for neutrino oscillation studies.