The first few moments of an atomic explosion

Ford Prefect · Post by **Ford Prefect** » 2006-02-19 01:09am

Just what it says on a tin. A friend linked me to a page where a man with a ten foot camera lens and a truly mad shutter speed took photos of a nuclear weapon exploding. I think it's rather cool.

Boom baby!

Noble Ire · Post by **Noble Ire** » 2006-02-19 01:43am

That is scary looking (and a bit more, or so I've been told).
Cool indeed.

Patrick Degan · Post by **Patrick Degan** » 2006-02-19 01:51am

Ever read H.G. Wells' The World Set Free (reprinted recently as The Last War)? It's a fascinating book which was probably the first-ever literary depiction of a nuclear war —from 1913. Herbert was a bit off on his physics; he models the action of the "Carolinium" bomb upon the slow-motion decay of radium, which was what was being commonly observed at the time (though off the bat he got right the idea of a transuranic element manufactured for high-energy reactions in a practical device). These Edgerton photos, however, remind me of what Wells describes in his book of the Carolinium bomb's fireball as a "disease of matter".

LMSx · Post by **LMSx** » 2006-02-19 05:07am

The last two are the best- seeing the energy stream down the tower cables in the second photo, and the surreal "planet of fire" torching the trees in the third, is impressive. Truly a disease of matter.

Eleas · Post by **Eleas** » 2006-02-19 05:29am

This is just... wow. Fascinating and terrifying, all at the same time.

Zed Snardbody · Post by **Zed Snardbody** » 2006-02-19 06:40am

I really can't put it into words....

The Spartan · Post by **The Spartan** » 2006-02-19 10:37am

It makes me think of some kind of single cell organism out of science fiction, expanding to consume more and more. Only, many orders of magnitude larger.

Eerie.

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2006-02-19 01:37pm

You expect it to be a perfectly spherical phenomena, but this just shows how intricate and chilling the image is, even if when you're that close to watch such a thing, you'd be vapour before you'd know it.

Molyneux · Post by **Molyneux** » 2006-02-19 02:11pm

It...doesn't even look real. It's like something out of an old science-fiction story...

Lost Soal · Post by **Lost Soal** » 2006-02-19 02:34pm

Admiral Valdemar wrote:You expect it to be a perfectly spherical phenomena, but this just shows how intricate and chilling the image is, even if when you're that close to watch such a thing, you'd be vapour before you'd know it.

I like, looks like multiple secondary bombs going off inside it, and the last one could be a photo of a tumor.

Winston Blake · Post by **Winston Blake** » 2006-02-20 02:28am

RUN, IT'S THE END!!!

Ford Prefect · Post by **Ford Prefect** » 2006-02-20 05:40am

That was brilliant.

Chris OFarrell · Post by **Chris OFarrell** » 2006-02-20 05:52am

*salutes Winston*

Sir I tip my hat to you.

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2006-02-20 06:52am

It looks like a really pissed off Kirby made of million degree plasma.

Molyneux · Post by **Molyneux** » 2006-02-20 08:06am

Admiral Valdemar wrote:It looks like a really pissed off Kirby made of million degree plasma.

Or the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man, right before the big explosion...

wolveraptor · Post by **wolveraptor** » 2006-02-20 11:25am

*wipes tear from eye* It's beautiful...

BloodAngel · Post by **BloodAngel** » 2006-02-20 12:59pm

Love it!

Duckie · Post by **Duckie** » 2006-02-20 01:02pm

Winston Blake wrote:RUN, IT'S THE END!!!

*bows before the awesome*

You, sir, win. Good day.

kheegster · Post by **kheegster** » 2006-02-20 01:40pm

Get Trinity And Beyond: The Atomic Bomb Movie. IIRC a similar high-speed video is in the film, and it's one of the most surreal things I've ever seen.

Gil Hamilton · Post by **Gil Hamilton** » 2006-02-20 02:30pm

I thought the first few moments of an atmoic blast were nothing but a flash of light and the faintest whisper of Shep's laughter in the air.

CaptainChewbacca · Post by **CaptainChewbacca** » 2006-02-20 03:38pm

Gil Hamilton wrote:I thought the first few moments of an atmoic blast were nothing but a flash of light and the faintest whisper of Shep's laughter in the air.

That was the first frame. You should hear the audio.

Zed Snardbody · Post by **Zed Snardbody** » 2006-02-20 03:51pm

Zed Snardbody · Post by **Zed Snardbody** » 2006-02-20 03:52pm

CaptainChewbacca · Post by **CaptainChewbacca** » 2006-02-20 04:35pm

Where'd you find that one, Zed?

Zed Snardbody · Post by **Zed Snardbody** » 2006-02-20 04:41pm

It came out of one of the many google searches I did after I saw the first site.

The first one is right after intiation. The second one is the ball consuming and observation tower of some sort.

This is a device that fizzled. Its held in the air by a ballon. Its in the process of consuming the wires.

StarDestroyer.Net BBS

The first few moments of an atomic explosion

The first few moments of an atomic explosion

Re: The first few moments of an atomic explosion