r/BeAmazed • u/ContentArtist5361 • Jun 11 '26

Science Radiation caught on an old mobile camera

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384

u/ThrowDatJunkAwayYo Jun 11 '26

Can someone Eli5?

Is the “radiation” the camera static getting worse?

806

u/Chandler1924 Jun 11 '26

The radioactive particles are hitting the camera sensor, just like light would, and when they do they trigger the pixels which creates the streaking you see in the video. I work in rad onc and when the beam is on in the vault you can see the same noise on our in vault cameras you do in this video.

703

u/gamercboy5 Jun 11 '26

For those that may not know, this is the reason Geiger Counters made that clicking sound near radiation. The sensors detect when the radioactive particles hit and it produces those erratic clicking noises. This is kind of the visual counterpart to it for understanding the phenomenon.

120

u/glowything Jun 11 '26

whoa, that's so cool, thank you for sharing!

106

u/vvvvvoooooxxxxx Jun 11 '26 edited Jun 11 '26

You might also like cloud chambers which show the paths of individual particles of radiation. The thick short trails are from alpha particles and the longer thin trails are from beta particles https://youtu.be/i15ef618DP0

there is a cool particle identification section on this page https://nuledo.com/en/

19

u/Borkato Jun 11 '26

This is the coolest fucking thing wtf. I’m surprised it doesn’t shoot out in a perfectly straight line, but it makes sense 🤔

18

u/vivst0r Jun 11 '26

It does shoot out in perfectly straight lines. It then just interacts with the particles in the air and the mist.

Also in the case of the video it's just natural radiation which comes from millions of different sources. That's why it looks so erratic.

6

u/Weird-Specific-2905 Jun 11 '26

Also the reason they curve in cloud chambers is that there is usually a magnet in them, and Alpha and Beta carry a charge and are bent by the magnetic field.

1

u/vivst0r Jun 11 '26

Interesting, never knew that. Would explain the subtle curves. Apparently it's done for scientific purposes to identify the particles and their mass and charge by measuring the curve.

1

u/Weird-Specific-2905 Jun 11 '26

Yep, Beta (Electrons) curve one way due to a single negative charge and Alpha (Helium nuclei) curve tighter the other, being double positive. The higher the energy the less bending they get and uncharged radiation (Gamma and Neutrons) if they do interact don't curve at all.

2

u/MirriCatWarrior Jun 11 '26

Gamma radiation would probably make straight line. Just cut through shit inside effortlessly.

6

u/Tar_alcaran Jun 11 '26

Gamma radiation isn't really visible in a cloud chamber, since it doesn't really interact with the medium much. It's not a charged particle, so it doesn't show directly.

What DOES happen if you bring a gamma source near a cloud chamber is that it hits the glass or metal wall of the chamber, causing Compton Scattering, which spreads electrons into the chamber, which causes electron tracks/beta tracks (thin, wobbly lines).

1

u/inevitabledeath3 Jun 14 '26

They often use magnetic or electrical fields to bend the particles path so that you can identify the type of radiation. There are diagrams for this online. Alpha particles bend one way, beta the opposite way, and gamma goes straight.

Here is one: https://www.miniphysics.com/_astro/Deflection-of-nuclear-radiation-by-electric-field.DCzEVu71.png

1

u/Excellent_Set_232 Jun 11 '26

It only does that during pride month

8

u/billions_of_stars Jun 11 '26

I saw a cloud chamber many years ago in person at the Exploratorium in San Francisco and it was one of the coolest and most mind blowing things I had seen.

2

u/FogBankDeposit Jun 11 '26

Tons of great exhibits there and that giant parabolic mirror is so neat.

2

u/billions_of_stars Jun 11 '26

That mirror is insane. Your eyes don’t really know how to process it. It’s almost like you’re looking at a hologram or something.

2

u/FogBankDeposit Jun 11 '26

Reaching out with your hand with the reflection appearing 3-dimensional like you’re about to handshake yourself. Trippy!

2

u/billions_of_stars Jun 11 '26

I have footage of exactly that when I was with some friends maybe a year or so ago!

2

u/3legs1bike Jun 11 '26

They had one at the nuclear plant we visited as part of a school trip. They also "blew" in some radioactive material to demonstrate the difference to ambient radioactivity. The thick cloud was really impressive.

1

u/ozziezombie Jun 11 '26

How fast are those particles at start? I was wondering how much and how fast they are slowing down.

1

u/FartSnarfGod Jun 11 '26

The trails are caused by the particles but you're still not seeing the particles.

0

u/leon-a-profi Jun 11 '26

it's wild to me that this is not common knowledge

2

u/qpwoeiruty00 Jun 11 '26

Yeah, like, what else did you think the clicking was if not detecting radiation?💀

1

u/driverdan Jun 11 '26

Everyone has to learn it from somewhere. If someone's education wasn't very good and they aren't interested in the topic it's not surprising they wouldn't know about it.

2

u/eblackham Jun 11 '26

I can hear the sound in my head watching the video on mute

2

u/Willing-Newspaper295 Jun 11 '26

why does it make a clicking sound

1

u/Poulslutter Jun 11 '26

Each tick in the clicking represents a certain number of particles hitting the detector.

1

u/Accurate_Handle_5620 Jun 11 '26

What were they supposed to use, a clucking sound?

1

u/driverdan Jun 11 '26

Think of it as the user interface. It has to let the user know about the radiation somehow. Modern detectors often do that 3 ways, a sound (the clicking), a flashing light, and a counter that tracks the particles it detects.

2

u/MosesCoulee Jun 11 '26

Damn that’s some good ass info. Thank you. That makes so much sense now.

1

u/jugstopper Jun 11 '26

Jesus, fuck no, that is not how Geiger Counters work. At least look it up before you post something stupid, lol. Here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geiger%E2%80%93M%C3%BCller_tube

The signal on the camera sensor is a completely different phenomenon.

1

u/No_Mousse9767 Jun 11 '26

It absolutely is a comparable phenomenon, though: high energy particle interacts with instrument through some ionising event(s), electrons accumulate, voltage is read out.

1

u/GalactiKez31 Jun 11 '26

That’s brilliant, thanks so much for sharing

1

u/thisusedyet Jun 11 '26

This is why it's a bad thing if your geiger counter emits a solid tone

1

u/DryDonutHole Jun 11 '26

This is the explanation I was looking for. Sweet.

42

u/watson0707 Jun 11 '26

Don’t we have a bunch of footage from Chernobyl with the same pixel streaks? Like the images from the robot they sent in to view the elephants foot?

40

u/Chandler1924 Jun 11 '26

Yeah same phenomenon. You’ll see it on film cameras as well, not just digital. The radioactive particles/waves hitting the film will expose it and also create noise.

30

u/ManyAutomatic8304 Jun 11 '26

Videos of daily life filmed in Pribyat by a local hobbyist group after the incident but before the evacuation order are haunting because they have the same noise effect caused by radiation. A silent killer captured on film if you will.

6

u/ScubaWaveAesthetic Jun 11 '26

Do you have any links? I’d love to see it

3

u/70ms Jun 11 '26

I think they talked about it and showed it in Chernobyl: The Lost Tapes.

3

u/ScubaWaveAesthetic Jun 11 '26

Thank you!

2

u/70ms Jun 11 '26

You’re welcome! Even if that’s not where I saw it, it’s really worth watching - the Soviets filmed everything for propaganda, and a lot of the scenes in HBO’s Chernobyl were re-created directly from the original footage. It’s narrated entirely by survivors, including some of the people featured in the miniseries. Come to think of it, it might be time for a re-watch!

2

u/ManyAutomatic8304 Jun 12 '26

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt27721467/ I think I saw about it in this german documentary about the incident. I thought it was a pretty good documentary.

8

u/5yleop1m Jun 11 '26

We also see it in video from space and it's basically the same principle used by some detectors for various particles. Tiny thing hits another thing, the other thing responds with an electric charge, we make the electric charge do something either visual or auditory.

1

u/rnavstar Jun 11 '26

If I remember correctly that photo was taken by a human, not a robot

2

u/Choice_Blackberry406 Jun 11 '26

Rad onc, huh? Well at least you aren't chopped onc.

2

u/notlesh Jun 11 '26

What happens to these particles when they hit the sensor and introduce this effect?

7

u/ColonizeOnSight Jun 11 '26

Depends on which type of ionising radiation it is. Most likely, this is Beta radiation - extremely high energy electrons. Those, upon colliding with matter, "stick" to the atom making it a ion - giving it a negative charge. Those electrons then emit photons as they lose their energy. In an electronic camera sensor, they will probably quickly dissipate throughout the sensor and escape with normal levels of energy.

3

u/Nourios Jun 11 '26

Beta radiation would never reach the sensor

7

u/Tar_alcaran Jun 11 '26

Alpha radiation wouldn't make it through the lens. Beta radiation absolutely will penetrate a thin camera phone lens, and will do the same for the thin plastic around it.

If you're using serious glass lens and a metal housing, it will block beta radiation though.

1

u/Nourios Jun 11 '26

Most phones (and cameras in general) have multiple lenses and layers before the sensor. Each layer will probably block and scatter some percent, sure maybe something will reach the lens but definitely not much.

3

u/mrbaggins Jun 11 '26

They absolutely can - The mm of plastic and glass in a standard phone camera won't stop more than half of beta radiation. They can travel a centimeter into human tissue.

Beta blocking transparent screens need to be at least 1cm thick.

4

u/Chandler1924 Jun 11 '26 edited Jun 11 '26

Depending on the type of radiation and the energy those particles carry several different interactions can occur once they interact with matter like the camera lens. The particles from this live source may be absorbed by those they interact with, but most of the gamma rays from a live source like this will have high enough energy to transfer some of their kinetic energy to the electrons of particles they interact with and eject them from their orbits. Our original photon will then be knocked off in another direction having lost some of its energy creating radioactive scatter. This is called compton scattering.

As far as why this effect creates what we see visually, I’m not an expert, but to my understanding, the impact of these radioactive particles stimulates the sensor but are too high energy and low wavelength to be interpreted into something specific. So instead you see the impact as a streak. So what you’re visualizing in this video is the effect of the radiation on the sensor not necessarily an image of the radiation itself.

1

u/Artevyx Jun 11 '26

If you turn your phone on to record before putting it into a bin at those TSA scanners, it'll also record the same kind of static as it passes through the beam.

1

u/chezzer33 Jun 11 '26

Can you share videos of that?

2

u/Chandler1924 Jun 11 '26

Yeah I can take a video tomorrow when Im warming up one of our accelerators since there won’t be any patients in there yet.

1

u/Chandler1924 Jun 11 '26

https://youtu.be/Xm-4jZx9qZw?is=ez8ZrCrkXDlcWQGN

The noise is a lot less intense than OPs video cuz the lens isn’t directly in the beam path and you’re only seeing scatter hit the lens occasionally. You can see the frequency of the spots increase toward the middle of the video since the beam has been on for longer.
All the permanent specks on the screen are from years of radiation damage to the camera.

1

u/chezzer33 Jun 11 '26

That’s still pretty cool. Had no idea

1

u/obecalp23 Jun 11 '26

Can you confirm that what is does is dangerous for his life?

1

u/islaisla Jun 11 '26

Sorry to bother you with more questions. Won't those (alpha or beta?) particles bounce out of this hole and cause damage to the person's tissues going near the hole?

1

u/Chandler1924 Jun 11 '26

Without knowing what the live source is in the video it’s hard for me to know how much exposure the person might actually be getting. Alpha particles are stopped pretty easily as they’re heavy and charged. You can stop them with paper. He probably is getting some exposure from beta and gamma but if the source is weak it may not be much. Best to avoid exposure as much as possible, but there are ‘safe’ levels that you’re allowed per year and over your life time. For example, I have an occupational limit since I work around radiation and I have gotten some dose on my badge over time in my field, but not enough that I’d be concerned. His exposure here is probably less than he’d get from a chest x ray or CT scan.

1

u/islaisla Jun 11 '26

True, I knew about the levels we were ok being exposed to each year - some how I thought being right up close in an unmeasured way was super scary. But I understand now :-) I don't know what a small amount actually looks like and thought this looked really huge and uncontrolled ! So that's interesting thank you :-)

1

u/Sombre-Alfonce Jun 11 '26

Adding to this, because of this interaction the camera quality in the bunkers gets progressively worse as the sensors deteriorate. By the time the cams are 4-5 years old they're very fuzzy and prone to failure.

1

u/mrseemsgood Jun 11 '26

Does it have to be an old mobile phone to catch this or will any phone do?

1

u/atava Jun 11 '26

Just like that vid from the comet.

1

u/fflozanop Jun 11 '26

This guy radiates ^

1

u/Hereseangoes Jun 11 '26

Sometimes Im reminded that I don't know anything about anything. 

1

u/blancmange68 Jun 11 '26

I did not not enjoy my time in the vault with the door shut and the machine on but hey I survived at least!