DESY - home of the HERA electron-proton collider
7 April 1999
The DESY research centre in the suburbs of Hamburg is home to what is in effect the world's largest electron microscope. HERA (the Hadron-Electron Ring Accelerator) is a unique machine that collides electrons with protons head on, to probe deep within the proton. This aerial view shows the path of HERA's 6.3 km long tunnel, which extends out from DESY's main site near the bottom centre of the picture, past the horse trotting ring (centre right) and the stadium of the Hamburg football club (by the O). Also indicated are the locations of the two major experiments, H1 (in the North Hall, N) and ZEUS (in the South Hall, S). The smaller dotted ring indicates the extent of the PETRA machine, which was built in the 1970s to collide electrons with positrons (antielectrons), but which now pre-accelerates the electrons and protons before they are taken to their final high energies in the HERA collider.
Credit: DESY
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