The first X-ray microtomography images of Brazil’s Project Sirius’s new electron accelerator were generated at the National Center for Research in Energy and Materials (CNPEM) on December 16 and 17. The team of specialists at the center, based in Campinas, São Paulo, has used X-ray to conduct the first studies on two samples: a rock with pre-salt composition and the heart of a mouse.

The synchroton light generated by the accelerator is said to be capable of penetrating matter and unveil features of its molecular and atomic structure. The wide spectrum of this radiation enables researches to employ more adequate wave lengths in each experiment.

“Sirius will be able to produce an extremely intense light, with a lot of flux, which is a large amount of light photons per second produced in a very small area. Generally speaking, researchers across the world profit from the existence of a smaller source of light. You can study characteristics of smaller samples—in other words, we can study tinier and tinier things, properties of smaller and smaller samples,” said Nathaly Archilla, the scientist leading the first studies.

With CNPEM’s former accelerator, she said, it could take an hour to conduct X-ray tomography on a rock as part of her studies on fluid flux in porous environments.

In Biology, the study of heart cell morphology will be benefited by Sirius as scientists seek to understand the differences between a heart with a certain disease and a healthy heart. Scientists can investigate which cells are affected by a given illness, which cells can easily regenerate, among other features, Archilha pointed out.

“Sirius covers different fields of knowledge, and can be handled by a number of different users with different techniques. Virtually every scientist can take their study to this kind of equipment,” the expert went on to note.

Latin American scientists

Funded by Brazil’s Ministry of Science, Technology, Innovations, and Communication, Sirius is the only particle accelerator this large in Latin America and the world’s second, according to CNPEM. The first images generated this month are expected to help make the necessary adjustments so that the synchroton light produced by the technology reaches the quality required in high-level scientific experiments, some of which unprecedented. This was the first test, but the machine was designed to operate with a power 10 thousand times higher.

CNPEM already controls four domestic laboratories, with facilities open to the scientific community. After all adjustments are made to Sirius, its infrastructure will be available to scientists in both Brazil and overseas. “A number of researchers have asked when it’s going to be opened,” Archilla said.

“The role of Sirius—not just for Brazil, but also for Latin America—is to solve problems in our region, so, for instance, to study some disease reported in an area, local plants, etc.,” she said.