this is a photograph of a single atom. the pale blue dot in the center between the metal electrodes is a single strontium atom illuminated by a laser
by Square-Message1152
this is a photograph of a single atom. the pale blue dot in the center between the metal electrodes is a single strontium atom illuminated by a laser
by Square-Message1152
30 Comments
They say that strontium is the most sensual of all the atoms.
Don’t know why, but I want to try giving it a lick.
Always wanted to taste a singular atom
Look again at that dot. That’s here. That’s home. That’s us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every “superstar,” every “supreme leader,” every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there–on a mote of dust suspended in a ~~sunbeam~~ laser.
What would the magnification here be ?
Scale?
Meanwhile the strontium atom:
https://preview.redd.it/3yztwnt9ky1h1.jpeg?width=997&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5ae1511e2af858e329190665886b0e6e8433cce1
That there be the one pice 😂😂😂 don’t know why I thought of that but 🤷♂️
_A pale blue dot…_
Where did I heard this term before ?
gonna need a banana for scale here.
why did they use strontium specifically? also how did they get it floating perfectly in the center?
Looks like the original Tron…
https://preview.redd.it/adaajf6iny1h1.jpeg?width=700&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=03e3b16535f3d7a25585625c27f66784e32137be
What percentage of the dot is just a halo glow from illumination? I’m guessing it’s a lot.
And where is it now?
I recreated it in MS Paint.
Not this again …..
Can we get a banana for scale?
it’s not blue at all it’s pink or light purple
if you say so
Cap.
You aren’t actually seeing the physical boundary or outline of the atom. Instead, you are seeing the light it emits. To capture the photo, the scientists blasted the single atom with a high-powered blue-violet laser. The atom absorbed that laser energy and re-emitted it (glowed) at an incredibly rapid rate. Because the photographer used a long-exposure shot (about 30 seconds), the camera sensor collected enough of these emitted light particles (photons) to register a bright spot.
However, because of a rule in physics called the diffraction limit, visible light waves blur out when scattering from a microscopic point. The light spills over, creating a “glare” or a “bloom” effect on the camera sensor. -Gemini
fascinating use of the term “pale blue dot”. I dig it.
Fun fact: I doubt this is the core of the atom.
This is just the outer cloud of electrons. The core of the atom is hundreds of times smaller.
But please correct me if im wrong!
*pew!*
So it’s a picture of an atom reflecting light. Which doesn’t even begin to help you comprehend how small it is. I don’t see how they can even conclude that isn’t hitting multiple atoms.
am I correct in assuming that on the left we can also see what looks like the individual atoms of the metal electrode?
Isn’t an atom far far smaller than the wavelength of visible light? What kind of laser is that?
i am rather curios how did they separated just 1 atom of matter.
Scientist: “Wait, never mind, it’s just a speck of dust on the camera lens.”
A single strontium atom is far smaller than the wavelength of any visible light.
I smell bs
I’d say the size is about average.
Look at that idiot just standing there