# A scientist captured an impossible photo of a single atom



## RowdyRay (Feb 13, 2018)

Pretty cool. 

A scientist captured an impossible photo of a single atom


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## Nintendoeats (Feb 14, 2018)

That is extremely cool, and I agree that it is a very useful way to visualize this scale. It's a shame that it doesn't contain anything relatable for context.


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## pixmedic (Feb 14, 2018)

not enough DOF


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## 480sparky (Feb 14, 2018)

Pfffft.  I can do the same thing.  But with just my _cell phone_.

And with *147ee527 atoms*!


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## vin88 (Feb 14, 2018)

it had been done in the 50's with an electron  microscope, but nice pix..


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## KmH (Feb 14, 2018)

Pretty cool.

The single atom itself is way, way, way smaller than the glow of light in the image.


> _When illuminated by a laser of the right blue-violet colour, the atom absorbs and re-emits light particles sufficiently quickly for an ordinary camera to capture it in a long exposure photograph._



I wonder how long the "long exposure" was.


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## tirediron (Feb 14, 2018)

Ehhh...  if he captured it, it's not impossible.  If it's impossible, he didn't capture it.


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## jaomul (Feb 14, 2018)

Reckon a Sony sensors camera would have given it more dynamic range


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## Gary A. (Feb 14, 2018)

480sparky said:


> Pfffft.  I can do the same thing.  But with just my _cell phone_.
> 
> And with *147ee527 atoms*!


You running a wide angle attachment on your cell phone?


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## Gary A. (Feb 14, 2018)

So an atom has wires, screws, nuts and a tube ...?


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## weepete (Feb 14, 2018)

I believe the title of the image is "Single atom in ion trap"

Very cool anyway.


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## tirediron (Feb 14, 2018)

Looking at this, it's not making sense.  An atom is between 1/10 and 1/2 a nanometer in diameter (approximately).  Based on the text of the article, the distance between the electrode and the "atom" is ~1mm, which by my estimation makes the atom about 1/50 - 1/100 of a mm in diameter.  So... how does 0.01 - 0.000000001??????


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## snowbear (Feb 14, 2018)

Meh - 1990:  http://nanoindustries.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/IBMxenon.jpg


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## 480sparky (Feb 14, 2018)

tirediron said:


> Looking at this, it's not making sense.  An atom is between 1/10 and 1/2 a nanometer in diameter (approximately).  Based on the text of the article, the distance between the electrode and the "atom" is ~1mm, which by my estimation makes the atom about 1/50 - 1/100 of a mm in diameter.  So... how does 0.01 - 0.000000001??????



The article's title is incorrect. You're not seeing an image of an atom. You're seeing the _light produced by one_.


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## Tallaslions (Feb 28, 2018)

Neat!


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