Wednesday, September 24, 2014

Stars in her eyes

Sometimes the smallest things blow my mind. Last week one of my colleagues brought a toy to work; a little gadget called a spinthariscope. It's a device that contains a radioactive source* (thorium ore, in this case) which enables observation of nuclear disintegrations with the naked eye. The charged particles that are emitted during the decay process interact with a scintillating material within the device, which in turn emits visible light. An optical lens is added and the light flashes can be seen; simple as that.

That same day I was doing late-night imaging studies and borrowed the spinthariscope to play with in between acquisitions. The Hutch was more or less empty as I sat down on the darkroom floor, next to my dearly beloved alpha camera that builds on the very same principle as the little toy in my hand. After letting my eyes adjust to the lack of light for a few minutes, I held up the device to my eye, almost holding my breath from anticipation of what I would experience.

Imagine my disappointment when it turned out I couldn't see a thing; just pitch black nothingness. What a bust!

Then, small flashes started to protrude from the darkness. At first, I wasn't sure if I was imagining or if the tiny sensations of light were real, but after a couple of minutes I was certain: I could see them. It was like watching stars reflect on the bottom of a well. As my eyes continued to adjust, the flashes became more and more intense until they filled my entire field of vision, pulsating with light.

If you can imagine liquid diamonds, that's what it looked like, or boiling water filled with glittering stardust.

I don't know for how long I sat there, staring into hand-held space, but my ongoing imaging study eventually pulled me back to reality. But what a fantastic excursion it was! If you ever get a hold of one of these things, try it.


A tiny container, filled to the brim with galaxies.

*No, there's no need to worry about radiation exposure. The source is extremely weak and the emitted alpha particles are efficiently stopped by the casing; nothing slips out.

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