Big science

Holoxica has been involved with projects that start from the smallest things in nature all the way to the scale of the universe. We have made digital holograms of the CERN particle detector, space telescopes, models of the universe and planetary science.

CERN Atlas Detector

Holoxica made a digital hologram to celebrate the discovery of the Higgs Boson and the 2013 Nobel Prize in Physics awarded to Peter Higgs (Edinburgh University) and Francois Englert (University of Brussels). The Higgs Boson is a fundamental particle of nature that is responsible for the formation of matter, or the stuff that we’re all made of. It was predicted way back in 1964 but it took four decades to find. It was discovered on 4th July 2012 by the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN, the European Centre for Nuclear Research into particle physics. This model shows the ATLAS detector with a candidate Higgs event.

ELT - Extremely Large Telescope

Holoxica made a series of holograms of the ELT, the world’s largest optical/infra-red telescope, located on a mountain in Chile, with a 39.3 metre primary mirror. It employs adaptive optics to correct for the distortion of the Earth’s atmosphere via eight guide star lasers (four shown). Construction started in 2017 and first light is planned for 2024, the cost is ~one billion Euros. We worked with the ATC - UK Astronomy Technology Center & ESO - European Southern Observatory.

Curiosity Mars Rover

Curiosity, Mars Science Laboratory mission is part of NASA’s Mars Exploration Program. Curiosity was designed to assess whether Mars ever had an environment able to support life to determine the planet’s “habitability”. Curiosity landed on Mars in Aug 2012, and its mission was extended indefinitely 5 years later. The rover has a mass of 899 kg (including 80 kg of scientific instruments; it is 2.9 m long by 2.7 m wide by 2.2 m high; is powered by a radioisotope thermoelectric generator). It was designed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, JPL.