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0 pointsSharlin1y ago0 comments

I guess that by far the most likely local source would be potassium-40 which is a gamma emitter and relatively abundant in organic stuff. Due to the low penetration of alpha and beta radiation, the source would have to be inside the camera to even have a chance of hitting the sensor, limiting the rate of such events.

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kimixa1y ago

[0] seems to imply the vast majority of radiation the average person experiences is gases, like Radon and Thoron decay (itself just an isotope of Radon), which would likely be as prevalent inside the fridge (and so inside the camera frame itself) as anywhere else.

[0] https://www.epa.gov/radiation/radiation-sources-and-doses

SharlinOP1y ago

That's because there's gaseous radon-222 continuously released from soil and rock, as a decay product of natural uranium. But it's an alpha emitter so is stopped by anything, including a few cm of air, or a sheet of paper – or the glass filter in front of a digital camera sensor.

kimixa1y ago

But the lens and camera assembly isn't a vacuum, if there's radon in the air around the camera I'd expect radon to be inside the camera too, right by the CCD.

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0 pointsSharlin1y ago0 comments

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kimixa1y ago

[0] https://www.epa.gov/radiation/radiation-sources-and-doses

SharlinOP1y ago

kimixa1y ago

But the lens and camera assembly isn't a vacuum, if there's radon in the air around the camera I'd expect radon to be inside the camera too, right by the CCD.

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