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Published 6 years ago by Apolatia with 3 Comments

Single Trapped Atom Captures Science Photography Competition's top prize

An image of a single positively-charged strontium atom, held near motionless by electric fields, has won the overall prize in a national science photography competition, organised by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).

 

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  • FF88
    +4

    Amazing but I thought an atom would be smaller.

    6 years ago
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    • sashinator
      +3

      It’s a picture of an atom re-emitting laser light which is what is visible by the naked eye. An actual atom is “visible” only under advanced electron microscopes

      6 years ago
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  • b1ackbird
    +4

    This is so cool. Nature never ceases to amaze me.

    When illuminated by a laser of the right blue-violet colour the atom absorbs and re-emits light particles sufficiently quickly for an ordinary camera to capture it in a long exposure photograph.

    6 years ago
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