Raising the Bar

[SloGlo]

what color is cherenkov in air.

by definition, cherenkov radiation is blue in color.  it cannot be any other color.  cherenkov radiation is named after Pavel Cherenkov when he was asked look at the effects of radioactivity in liquids.  therefore, if it is cherenkov radiation, it is blue, because it is the color given off by radiation exceeding the speed of light in the liquid media.  in air that media would be water, since the question asks for the color of cherenkov in air.
as a collary question, what colors other than blue would be given by other media in which radiation is exceeding the speed of light for that media?

[Rain Man]

Off topic.  Mike needs to take you all to the wood shed.  Go cut a hickory switch.

[alphadude]

hmmm my research indicates its polychromatic.  it peaks out in water at the blue wavelength. some reports of russian events state that it was seen as red.  personnel working on pool reactors report that they would give people "light shows" by pulsing air thru those reactors and produce a blinding white light  followed by the burp of the air coming to the top of the pool- thus creating an excretory event in most observers pants!

[Rennhack]

Off topic.  Mike needs to take you all to the wood shed.  Go cut a hickory switch.

I don't know, they are ending the gossip and petty stuff... sort of... seems to kind of be on topic.

While we are not gossiping, NukeWorker.com's new home is Powell TN...  It's new fax number is 865-938-6984.

If you want to save on shipping of NukeWorker logo stuff, you can come and browse the NukeWorker gift shop.  

[SloGlo]

alphadude.... yinze gettin me cornfuzed here.  1st ya said "we know its blue in water" which lead me to understand that you were referencing visible light wavelengths as detected by the human eye.... could be my bad, ya no?  but then ya gets inta yer polychromatic stuff.... so now i needs to know whatinell yer knowledge base is 'n what are yer discussion boundaries?
in most media blue light predominates over longer wavelengths of light, not to say there aren't other wavelengths in the spectrum produced.  but, getting back to yer original question..."what color is cherenkov in air", note that the solar tower atmospheric cherenkov effect experiment (stacee) "uses a large field of solar mirrors (heliostats) at the National Solar Thermal Test Facility near Albuequerque, NM. These mirrors were built for solar energy research conducted during the daytime. STACEE uses the mirrors at night for astronomy. The mirrors collect quick flashes of blue Cherenkov light that result from gamma-ray interactions in the atmosphere. The Cherenkov light is then detected and recorded by the STACEE equipment."

[radghost]

First of all let's define 'air', and can we say that the real question is.... Why is the sky blue?

[SloGlo]

First of all let's define 'air', and can we say that the real question is.... Why is the sky blue?

sky blue question already dun on itz own thread...... who cares what air is, the real question is why is it there?  'n bill cosby already answered that...."to blow up basketballs, footballs, 'n volleyballs."

[alphadude]

I havent seen any literature that would suggest that its monochromatic... after filtering it is...

the cherenkov spectrum is polychromatic with peak transmission around the blue end of the spectrum, so if we used a difraction grating we can separate the other components outs.  high energy blue predominates the "light shock" wave known as cherenkov and on either side of that peak... we find the other stuff.. one side would be in the ultra violet while the other would be towards the reds.  oh well interesting question! because there would be less filtering in air there should be some color shift towards the red end. so is it purple in air?? hence the russian report of red in air???

i'm kinda thinkin that anybody that has seen it, is dead!!

[Pet_Cow]

I didn't think cherenkov occurred in air because the particles never exceed the light speed in air which is far greater than that of water.

[alphadude]

yep it can happen..well according to theory.  remember the definition is transparent media.. air meets that criteria. it can't occur in vacuum.  thats really the reason for the question.. anyone know of any events which describe it in air?? but i think most are dead that know.

[radghost]

Never have heard any reference in air...                                                                                                          However, CERENKOV light is given by the equation;                                                                                                            I(v)=const/(v2) x 1-1/b2n2                                                                                                                which tells us that it is not just radiation but electron radiation and it is dependent on the medium in which it passes so the question 'define air ' is relavent. Dont know about polychromatic??
  

[IPREGEN]

Go to the back of your Gollnicks and you can read about the accidents where those direct attendees saw the blue light. The bad news for them was the light is not from radiation slowing in the air, but from slowing in the fluid of the eyes.
This was the origin to several expresssions/song lyrics.
"The eyes have it"
"My eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the lord"
"Did you see that?"
"Oh shit"

[alphadude]

oh i have heard that the eye fluid will flash..should do real well, but the catarac has got to be an inch thick after...

[SloGlo]

not to worry, the retina detachment will null & void the cataract.

[SloGlo]

anbuddy got 'the problem of the week' fer dis thread?

[Phurst]

If you could be an element, what element would you be and why.

[radgal]

Carbon cause under the right conditions I can be a diamond.

[Phurst]

A million years of heat and pressure? Sounds like my past life.Right now I should be urainium because I'm about to split.

[alphadude]

ok why do ludlum  43-68 and 43-68/5 detectors respond to light.. surely its not the photo electric effect reacting with the P10 or is it??

[SloGlo]

If you could be an element, what element would you be and why.

hg.... shiny, cool stuff.... fluid is most common state, vaporizes at low thermal threshold, rarely found hard.

[SloGlo]

ok why do ludlum  43-68 and 43-68/5 detectors respond to light.. surely its not the photo electric effect reacting with the P10 or is it??

i alwaze thought that it was the ultra violet ionizing in the probe.  usually found this to occur working outside on bright daze with the 1/2 meter probes,(239-F, is that right?) and that was when i worked for a contractor who replaced his own mylars.  perhaps he only used a single layer.... especially since we wuz chasin alphas ina steel mill.  also found that it didn't happen when using in a floor monitor mode, but when we used the probes in a hand held mode it would get kinda screwy.  usually when we had the probe off the surface, ala free air.

[alphadude]

slo-go im getting several responses on this subject, and it is perplexing. we had it happen with high intensity indoor lights- and also when outside it fails low and stays low. the indoor lights caused very high readings (200k dpm) so is it UV, electronic or whut?  

The truth is out there.. can we handle it?

[SloGlo]

alphadude....what kinda indoor lights r u using?  check out the uv content of the spectrum 'n let me know wotinell ya find out.

[Rennhack]

Never have heard any reference in air...                                                                                                          However, CERENKOV light is given by the equation;                                                                                                            I(v)=const/(v2) x 1-1/b2n2                                                                                                                which tells us that it is not just radiation but electron radiation and it is dependent on the medium in which it passes so the question 'define air ' is relavent. Dont know about polychromatic??
  

[darkmatter]

oh i have heard that the eye fluid will flash..should do real well, but the catarac has got to be an inch thick after...

The early days of spaceflight had the astronauts seeing unknown random bright flashes of light that were later determined to be cosmic rays causing the eye fluid to scinalate.