The first lead-ion experiments at the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC) have been undertaken by
scientists, with beam energies reaching 287 TeV.
When the LHC was first switched on in March 2010, its proton beams carried energy of 7 TeV.
But with lead ions - atoms of the metal stripped of their electrons and containing 82 protons - the energy that can be reached is much higher.
Colliding these particles reproduces newborn-universe conditions so CERN
scientists can study what may have occurred when matter was still in its infancy.
The final proton beam was extracted from the LHC on November 4th and the lead-ion beam switched on at 00:30 local time on November 7th.
By November 8th, a four-day turnaround had been completed and nominal data-collecting conditions, or "stable beams", were achieved.
Continuous running is now planned at the facility until it closes down for the winter break on December 6th.
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