The summer may be getting warm, but the Large Hadron Collider is cooling down.

The world’s largest particle accelerator at CERN near Geneva, Switzerland, is entering the final testing phase of its superconducting magnets, which will be used to steer protons around the ring and smash them into each other at energies of up to 7TeV. In order to work, the magnets must be chilled to 1.9 Kelvin, and that requires a huge network of vacuum pumps, cryostats and electrical feedthroughs, all of which need to be made air-tight.

It’s been slow going, but as you can see (right) the 32Km ring is finally approaching the requisite temperatures. Once there, each sectors’ magnets will be powered up and tested further. Then it’s off to the races!

If you want to follow how it’s all going yourself, then check in here.

Image: CERN