25 years of the SPS
29 August 2001
This summer sees the 25th anniversary of the start-up of the Super Proton Synchrotron (SPS), at CERN, the European centre for particle physics near Geneva. This image from April 1976 shows the last stages of preparation in the tunnel containing the electromagnets to guide the particle beam around the 7 km circumference ring - the red magnets are some of the 800 or so dipole magnets that bend the particles on their circular path. Designed for protons, the SPS has also accelerated electrons, positrons and heavy ions - nuclei of large atoms such as lead - and in 1981 began operation as the world's first proton-antiproton collider. Its multitalented capacity will continue into the 21st century, when it will provide protons and heavy ions for CERN's new Large Hadron Collider (LHC).
Credit: CERN Photo
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