1981 CERN Streamer Chamber

The CERN Streamer Chamber's photographic capture of particle trails transformed it into a vital scientific tool, inspiring technological advancement, and further exploration.

In 1981, this CERN Streamer Chamber photograph marked a significant moment in photography's history, capturing a proton-antiproton collider interaction for the first time. This achievement allowed scientists to visually document transient particle interactions, fundamentally transforming photography into a crucial tool in experimental physics. This photograph isn't just a captured image; it and others like it became integral in validating particle physics theories.

The technique behind this innovation captured the trails of charged particles as they moved through a superheated vapor within the chamber, condensing the vapor into visible paths that were then frozen by high-speed, high-resolution cameras. This required synchronized camera activations with particle accelerations, capturing these events with meticulous precision.

Credit: © 1981-2021 CERN (License: CC-BY-4.0)
Author: CERN PhotoLab
Title: CERN Streamer Chamber (1981)
Date: April 1981
Archive: CERN
Source: CERN Archive, Wikimedia Commons
Original file: 2785 x 4391 pixels, file size: 11.7 MB
Description: Photographic negative, 6cmx6cm, Image scanned from original photo negative on 10 Jan 2015
Available information: First proton-antiproton collider interactions as seen by the streamer chamber of UA5 in April 1981, CERN

Additional credits (left to right): Image 1 credit: © 1981-2021 CERN (License: CC-BY-4.0), Closeup of typical proton-antiproton interaction, as recorded in 1982, UA5 collaboration, CERN, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. Image 2 credit: © 1981-2021 CERN (License: CC-BY-4.0) The streamer chamber of UA5 being installed at its platform, in ECA4 alongside the UA2 detector in September 1981. CERN Archive. CERN, CC BY 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons