2014 CERN, Pcharito-Alicelead3

Capturing nanoseconds: CERN’s photographs challenge high-speed scientific capture techniques.

Visualizing the unseen, this photograph of high-energy particle collisions at CERN unveiled the complexities of particle physics. By capturing events at the smallest scales of physical reality, it expands the field’s boundaries far beyond traditional subjects and illustrates the camera’s power not just to record, but to visualize phenomena invisible to the eye.

The capture of these high-speed events employed specialized imaging technologies. At CERN, detectors and cameras equipped with sensors capable of nanosecond-scale imaging and high-speed photography are used. These are combined with digital sensors that capture vast amounts of data, processed by advanced computer algorithms to reconstruct imagery from raw data points.

The photograph challenges conventional views on photographic subjects, inviting exploration of abstract and technical themes. It opens new dimensions where scientific phenomena can be appreciated visually, influencing artistic interpretations. Scientifically, it provides crucial evidence for physics theories, reinforcing photography’s pivotal role in documenting and disseminating new scientific discoveries.

Credit: © 1973-2021 CERN, licensed under the Creative Commons, via Wikimedia Commons
Author: Pcharito
Title: Alicelead3
Date: 4 March 2014
Archive: CERN
Source: Wikimedia Commons
Original file: 1496 x 1060 pixels, file size: 1.67 MB, MIME type: image/jpeg
Available information: One of the LHC’s first lead-ion collisions, as recorded by the ALICE detector.

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High-speed capture has always been a pursuit against the limits of time itself. From early shadowgraphy to spark photography and stroboscopic techniques, from ultra-high-speed sensor imaging to femto-photography, each advance has sought to shorten the gap between event and image. These breakthroughs transformed photography into a tool capable of revealing what lies beyond human perception—freezing the fleeting, visualizing shockwaves, or tracing light itself. As both a scientific instrument and an artistic medium, high-speed photography continually expands our capacity to observe, measure, and imagine the dynamics of an unseen world.

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1887 ERNST MACH – BRASS BULLET
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1900 A.M. WORTHINGTON - SPLASH
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1964 HAROLD EUGENE EDGERTON – BULLET THROUGH APPLE
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