Editorial use only. This image may not be used to state or imply endorsement by CERN of any product, activity or service The Super-Proton-Synchrotron

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Editorial use only. This image may not be used to state or imply endorsement by CERN of any product, activity or service The Super-Proton-Synchrotron (SPS) accelerator at CERN, the European particle physics laboratory outside Geneva, during its installation in 1974. The photo shows the underground tunnel containing the beam pipe through which protons & antiprotons travel in opposite directions around the SPS ring. The pipe itself cannot be seen, being encased for most of its length in huge magnets (red & blue) which bend & focus the particles. The protons & antiprotons make millions of circuits of the ring, until they are moving at almost the speed of light. They are then smashed into each other within huge detectors located astride the beam pipe at several locations around the ring.

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Size: 4788px × 3685px
Photo credit: © JEAN COLLOMBET/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: 1974, accelerator, centre, cern, european, geneva, laboratory, nuclear, particle, physics, research, sps, super-proton-synchrotron, switzerland