The Planeterrella is online

We are pleased to announce that the Southampton Planeterrella is up and running.

Following months of work the Southampton Planeterrella has been turned on for the first time.  The metallic spheres are located within a vacuum chamber.  Both spheres contain powerful magnets and a current is run between the two.  Electrons (forming the current) travel between the spheres, colliding with the tenuous gas still within the chamber causing it to glow.

The Planeterrella team would like to thank all of those who have been involved with building, designing or advising the project for the past 6 months.  We look forward to sharing the experiment with the public soon.