Atomic Photography

[Dr_Baltar]

Feast your eyes on the first ever photo of a single atom hovering in thin air

If you paid attention in science class you know that atoms make up everything. They’re the smallest unit of matter, and everything you’ve ever touched, felt, or breathed is made up of matter, include your own body. They’re so small, in fact, that actually seeing an individual atom is pretty much impossible without the use of high-powered microscopes. I say “pretty much,” because there is apparently an exception to that rule, and a truly remarkable photo showing a single atom captured in space has been awarded a first place prize in the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council’s annual photography competition.

More at:

http://bgr.com/2018/02/14/single-atom-photo-strontium-picture-image/

 

[Fluttermoth]

My son told me about this earlier; it's amazing, I had goosebumps! I love that David Nadlinger described it as "a small, pale blue dot"

 

[INT21]

I was wondering what Heisenberg would make of it.

How it fits in with the Uncertainty Principle.

I mean, in the picture you know both where it is and the direction it is traveling.

Or doesn't the uncertainty principle apply to stationary atoms ?

INT21

 

[Swifty]

My son told me about this earlier; it's amazing, I had goosebumps! I love that David Nadlinger described it as "a small, pale blue dot"

That's actually Jim Davidson's penis.

 

[Fluttermoth]

I was wondering what Heisenberg would make of it.

How it fits in with the Uncertainty Principle.

I mean, in the picture you know both where it is and the direction it is traveling.

Or doesn't the uncertainty principle apply to stationary atoms ?

INT21

The Uncertainty Principle only applies at sub-atomic scales, to smaller particles than atoms.

 

[EnolaGaia]

Is anyone else uncomfortable with the popular description of this as a photo "of an atom"?

The pale blue dot is several orders of magnitude larger than the strontium atom whose excitation-driven emanations the dot represents. The dot isn't the atom per se - it's the region of detected illumination for a time-lapsed series of emanations from the atom.

I'm concerned that the descriptions leave the impression an atom is visually detectable as illustrated within a 2mm-wide expanse (the distance between the ion trap needle tips).

I'm also bugged by the fact very few of the news items bother to mention the blue dot represents the area of the atom's emanations rather than the atom itself.

 

[Mythopoeika]

Is anyone else uncomfortable with the popular description of this as a photo "of an atom"?

The pale blue dot is several orders of magnitude larger than the strontium atom whose excitation-driven emanations the dot represents. The dot isn't the atom per se - it's the region of detected illumination for a time-lapsed series of emanations from the atom.

I'm concerned that the descriptions leave the impression an atom is visually detectable as illustrated within a 2mm-wide expanse (the distance between the ion trap needle tips).

I'm also bugged by the fact very few of the news items bother to mention the blue dot represents the area of the atom's emanations rather than the atom itself.

Correct. This may be an example of journalistic imprecision. Misleading.

 

[kamalktk]

Is anyone else uncomfortable with the popular description of this as a photo "of an atom"?

The pale blue dot is several orders of magnitude larger than the strontium atom whose excitation-driven emanations the dot represents. The dot isn't the atom per se - it's the region of detected illumination for a time-lapsed series of emanations from the atom.

I'm concerned that the descriptions leave the impression an atom is visually detectable as illustrated within a 2mm-wide expanse (the distance between the ion trap needle tips).

I'm also bugged by the fact very few of the news items bother to mention the blue dot represents the area of the atom's emanations rather than the atom itself.

There's also no photographs of the sun, just photographs of light given off by the sun... ?

 

[EnolaGaia]

There's also no photographs of the sun, just photographs of light given off by the sun... ?

In a trivial sense, all photographs are recordings of light emitted by or reflected off an object. That's not the point here. Staying with the sun as an example, the more apt analogy would involve the sun's corona rather than the sun itself.

The corona is a halo or envelope of luminescent plasma surrounding the sun. It's not typically visible unless there's a solar eclipse or a coronagraph device is used to block the light of the star itself.

The corona isn't the sun - it's a broader region of secondary / auxiliary illumination around the sun.

The blue dot in the atom photo, analogous to the solar corona, represents a broader region of illumination involving the atom's emissions in response to laser stimulation / excitation.

The blue dot is no more the atom than the corona is the sun.

 

[Swifty]

'A Boy And His Atom: The World's Smallest Movie' .. made by moving single atoms around and using stop motion ..