What is that?
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That is the 'Alice Detector' which makes up part of the 'LHC'. It is one of the 7 detectors across the 'LHC'. The Detector is found close to the border of France and Switzerland which lies underground in France.
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What does the 'Alice Detector' do?
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'Alice' detects levels of high energy. These levers are extremely high and are recorded to study the aftermath of the proton collisions. This helps to understand how protons crash and explode into each other.
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Could you explain the photograph on the left?
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On the left, we see the detector opened up due to certain checks and fixes. It is a very large and complex machine thus leaving potential rise to issues detected at the control room just 20 stories above the detector. We could see the centre of the detector which is where the protons collide into each other and are calculated by the machine.
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Is it safe to go down there and see the detector?
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It depends. When in operation, there are high amounts of radiation in the room and going down may be unsafe. The radiation has a short half-life thus after a few days, it may be safe to go back down and observe the machine. (Half-life is the time taken for a radioactive isotope to lose half of its radiation)
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What is that?
On the right, we could see a photograph taken from a different perspective. This angle of shooting was taken very close to the interior of the detector. I converted the image to grayscale to allow us to appreciate the advanced technology seen in this machine.
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With what was the photograph taken?
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The photograph was taken with a 35mm f1.8 prime lens in order to create a sense of the depth of field. This is not only caused by the f1.8 but the focus on the inside of the detector with the circumference of the photograph blurring out. One could consider this to be an abstract photograph.
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Next we will see the 'CMS Detector' which is yet another part of the 'LHC'.
Fun Fact!
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Collisions in the LHC generate temperatures more than 100,000 times hotter than the centre of the Sun.
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(You may now go to the 'CMS Detector' section)