223K views · 437 reactions | Why do you see a blue glow inside of a reactor? | International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) | Facebook

#OnThisDay in 1904, Pavel Cherenkov was born. He's the man who first discovered what this blue glow was surrounding a reactor core. Today it's called Cherenkov radiation — a phenomenon that happens when electrically charged particles, such as protons or electrons, travel faster than light in a clear medium like water. #nuclear #cleanenergy | U.S. Department of Energy Office of Nuclear Energy

The blue glow is called Cherenkov radiation, and it's caused by very high energy electrically charged particles, such as electrons, traveling faster than the speed of light in a medium, such as water. Think of it like a sonic boom for light. In certain mediums, the speed of light is slower, and particles can travel faster than light in that medium. For example, the speed of light in water is 225,000,000 metres per second, compared to 299,792,458 metres per second in a vacuum, or about 75% the sp