r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/CharlesBrooks • Feb 25 '25
Original Creation Photograph from inside a Particle Accelerator
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u/DontPoopInMyPantsPlz Feb 25 '25
Thank you! Expected it to be more circular with all those CERN CGIs
Next, plz do the LIGO
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u/NootHawg Feb 25 '25
They say in the description that it will not be opened again for 20-30 years because it’s under pressure. I would guess all particle accelerators would be the same. So this was a super rare opportunity to get this photo. Very very cool, and super rare for this sub😂
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u/CharlesBrooks Feb 25 '25
Exactly this. It’s under vacuum, and it’s cooled. It won’t be opened again until end-of-life or some unexpected repair. Considering there are only around 5 cryogenic undulators in existence it was an extremely rare photographic opportunity!
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u/NootHawg Feb 25 '25
Thanks for taking this, and for sharing. It’s pretty mesmerizing to look at. My crazy brain immediately thought, whoa I wonder how many allen screws are in that thing?😂
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u/berried_aprons Feb 25 '25
Thank you for capturing and sharing the beauty of the unseen. Your wizardry is exquisite!
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u/Wegie89 Expert Feb 25 '25
Haha, in exactly THIS machine is a part I made
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u/CharlesBrooks Feb 25 '25
Not that one missing screw down the right hand side wall?
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u/Wegie89 Expert Feb 25 '25
Right now I’m working on a Desy part. Maybe I’ll forget a screw too, so it’s even again
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Feb 25 '25
Its just beautiful , I wonder how it is even possible for humans to think about making stuff like these
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u/SamuelYosemite Feb 25 '25
I think that the particle accelerator is one of the most beautiful things in the world and I am absolutely terrified of it.
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u/powe808 Feb 25 '25
No need to be terrified. Smaller versions of this accelerator are used in hospitals around the world to treat and cure cancer.
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u/SamuelYosemite Feb 25 '25
If the smaller versions kill cancer what can the bigger ones kill? (I’m being facetious)
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u/coronUrca Feb 25 '25
Ummm this image looks like a still form the Inception movie.
Looks like one is traveling through a worm hole!
Amazing!
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u/NO_LOADED_VERSION Feb 25 '25
fully expect the Tall Man to stride out the light shouting BOOOOOOYYYYYYYYY
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u/ThatDiscoSongUHate Feb 25 '25
This is utterly amazing, I've always wondered what they looked like inside!
And to think you did it with a laparoscopic camera that is usually used for surgery!
Someone else mentioned that they'd love to see you photograph LIGO and I have to say that I would as well
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u/BlueBattleBuddy Feb 25 '25
"Threw the opp into the particle collider, watched his ass get pulled apart into a million pieces
Turned his sorry ass into some data"
-Dracula on his 5th tirade
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u/Go1gotha Expert Feb 26 '25
This has a very strong 2001: A Space Odyssey vibes.
What are you doing Dave?
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u/Obsibian01 Feb 26 '25
Eobard Thawne would like a word with you lol 💛❤️⚡️
But congrats on the pictures!! Looks amazing and very VERY interesting
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u/CJs_Demons Feb 27 '25
That’s honestly so cool. I didn’t even know we had anything like that in Australia to be honest!
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u/PsyFyFungi Feb 25 '25
Really interesting man, glad you got the chance and happy you shared it with us =)
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u/yllwjp03 Feb 25 '25
Lando’s photo posted to the gram showing the interior structure of the second Death Star while on his way to the main reactor.
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u/Realexis1 Feb 25 '25
Woah, it looks like a movie - it sounds obvious but it really does remind me in some ways of alien / sci fi architecture.
I can sort see doors in the left, a hallway that fades to the horizon to some blinding opening in the center, etc etc. Amazing stuff
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u/GPStephan Feb 27 '25
This was the first thing I thought - either a spaceship hangar, or a very long walkway, Giedi Prime construction style, but in a BR0249 Las Vegas colorway.
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u/NeisanUltima1 Feb 25 '25
Thank you for what you do and contributions made to our society. Keep it up!
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u/Flare_Starchild Feb 26 '25
Damn dude, you capture science as a 5th dimensional entity. Truly, beautiful in the truest sense of the word.
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u/2ingredientexplosion Feb 26 '25
What Anatoli Bugorski saw for a split second before blinding light.
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u/Flexion2000 Feb 27 '25
Is there a link where you can download this image, this is looking f-ing awesome !
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u/CharlesBrooks Feb 25 '25
I’ve spent years photographing rare and valuable instruments, most of them musical. But this is something else entirely.
It’s a particle accelerator—specifically, the Australian Synchrotron, a scientific machine the size of an entire city block (although this tunnel is just a few centimetres wide). It’s a place where electrons race at near-light speeds, bending to magnetic forces to produce beams of light a million times brighter than the sun, used to study everything from nano-tech to cultural heritage.
This particular device is the Cryogenic Undulator which is about to be installed in the storage ring and used as a light source for the Nano Beamline (under construction and the newest 15 beamlines). Once installed, it will be cooled to -123°C (-190°F), and placed under vacuum. It will not be opened again for at least 20 to 30 years.
Despite being a scientific instrument, the cryogenic undulator behaves a lot like a musical instrument. Electrons are fired down this shaft in tight, synchronized pulses. The intensely powerful magnets above and below cause the particles to undulate ever so slightly, much like the string of a fine cello.
That tiny movement sets off a cascade of electromagnetic waves that unleash an incredibly intense laser-like beam of light (x-ray radiation) that scientists use to probe the hidden structures of our everyday world.
To capture this hidden world, I used a medical laparoscope—normally reserved for surgery—adapted to a Lumix camera. This is the same technique I use to photograph rare musical instruments, peering inside spaces no human eye would otherwise see.
Each photograph is a combination of hundreds of individual frames, blended using focus-stacking and panorama techniques to bring out every fine detail from the foreground to infinity.
This photography session was an extremely rare opportunity, and I’d like to thank the friendly and helpful staff at the Australian Syncrotron, especially Eugene Tan, Senior Accelerator Physicist, who’s idea it was in the first place!