Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments

missthingxxx t1_j67xbn9 wrote

And the actual capsule thing is so small, I will be amazed if they find it along that very, very long route from Newman to Perth. Does it look hot if you see it in night vision or infra red?

3

mfb- t1_j6845ze wrote

I haven't seen an actual activity value for it but with typical values the power will be just of the order of a milliwatt or less. That's far less than the sunlight that hits an equal area so it won't be notably hotter.

Looking for its gamma emission directly is more promising.

4

missthingxxx t1_j685bii wrote

Do you reckon they're gonna find it?

2

mfb- t1_j6866kd wrote

If they don't find it then it's probably going to lie somewhere in the desert for centuries until essentially all the caesium has decayed (99.9% over 300 years) or the container gets damaged and it's spread out over such a large area that it's harmless, too.

1

aaaaaaaarrrrrgh t1_j689kkh wrote

Wouldn't they just drive the route with a Geiger counter and see where it goes crazy?

https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/search-underway-radioactive-capsule-missing-australia-2023-01-28/ for context btw

0

missthingxxx t1_j68kgae wrote

Well, yeah. I believe that's what they're doing. It is a needle in a haystack though at this point. And I'd bet that they tried looking for it before they announced publicly that it had been lost. I just wondered if it would have a strong glow at night under night vision and would perhaps stand out.

3