CERN Is Going To Test World’s Most Powerful Particle Accelerator During April’s Solar Eclipse

As the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) prepares to unleash the power of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) on April 8, be ready for a historic moment.  

At the underground LHC, close to the French-Swiss border, scientists will be able to tackle the enigmatic dark matter phenomenon. Dark matter makes up an astounding 28% of the universe but is difficult to detect directly. 

As part of preliminary testing, billions of protons are already flowing through the LHC’s complex web of superconducting magnets. This enormous project, which spans a 17-mile tunnel, aims to reconstruct the universe’s initial circumstances a few seconds after the Big Bang. 

Scientists expect a convergence of particles inside the LHC as the experiment progresses. These protons are about to clash as they travel at incredible speeds over the accelerator ring, providing a view inside the cosmic crucible that gave rise to our universe. Moreover, millions of people would see nature’s breathtaking display as the Great North American Solar Eclipse looms large. 

The LHC’s primary goal is to understand the properties of the Higgs boson, a particle that gives other particles mass and shapes matter itself. The 2012 finding of the Higgs boson confirmed Professor Higgs’ 1964 theoretical framework and added a crucial piece to the particle physics puzzle. 

However, several obstacles to scientific understanding exist. Accuracy is necessary due to the interactions between the many components of the LHC. Rende Steerenberg, the head of CERN operations, acknowledges the project by highlighting the urgency and dread surrounding turning on the gigantic machine.