Posted on 12/22/2013 1:39:29 PM PST by lbryce
Rapatronic Nuclear Photographs-Images Taken Within 10 Nano-Seconds of Nuclear Detonation
Click Here:The Camera That Captured the First Millisecond of a Nuclear Bomb Blast
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia
Nuclear explosion photographed by rapatronic camera less than 1 millisecond after detonation. From the Tumbler-Snapper test series in Nevada, 1952. The fireball is about 20 meters in diameter in this shot. The spikes at the bottom of the fireball are known as the rope trick effect.
The rapatronic camera (a contraction of rapid action electronic) is a high-speed camera capable of recording a still image with an exposure time as brief as 10 nanoseconds (100 million frames per second).
The camera was developed by Harold Edgerton in the 1940s and was first used to photograph the rapidly changing matter in nuclear explosions within milliseconds of ignition. To overcome the speed limitation of a conventional camera's mechanical shutter, the rapatronic camera uses two polarizing filters and a Faraday cell (or in some variants a Kerr cell). The two filters are mounted with their polarization angles at 90° to each other, to block all incoming light. The Faraday cell sits between the filters, which changes the polarization plane of light passing through it depending on the level of magnetic field applied, acts as a shutter when it is energized at the right time for a very short amount of time, allowing the film to be properly exposed.
In magneto-optical shutters, the active material of the Faraday cell (e.g. dense flint glass, which reacts well to strong magnetic field[2]) is located inside an electromagnet coil, formed by few loops of thick wire. The coil is powered through a pulse forming network, by a discharge of a high-voltage capacitor (e.g. 2 microfarads at 1000 volts), switched into the coil by a trigatron or a thyratron. In electro-optical shutters, the active material is a liquid, typically nitrobenzene, located in a cell between two electrodes. A brief impulse of high voltage is applied to rotate the polarization of the passing light.
For a film-like sequence of high-speed photographs, as used in the photography of nuclear and thermonuclear tests, arrays of up to 12 cameras were deployed, with each camera carefully timed to record a different time frame. Each camera was capable of recording only one exposure on a single sheet of film. Therefore, in order to create time-lapse sequences, banks of four to ten cameras were set up to take photos in rapid succession. The average exposure time used was three microseconds.
This links to the Web Page As Illustrated Below:Damn Interesting:Rapatronic Nuclear Photographs
CLIC HERE:Raptronic Photographs
16 seconds After Detonation
There is a wealth of information regarding rapatronic nuclear photographs that was much too overwhelming for me to post. For those who want to explore this subject, I suggest the following.
Step 1-Do a search for rapatronic nuclear photographs.
Step 2-Click on the photogrpah that interests you
Step 3-Visit the page the image is located.
Looks like a cat’s tummy 2p nanosecs after it has bad cheeseburger. Cool.
How was the camera not destroyed in the blast?
/johnny
According to one of the articles I camne across in my search, the camera was located seven miles away.
According to one of the articles I camne across in my search, the camera was located seven miles away.
Very cool. Thanks for posting this.
Fascinating, thanks for posting.
My Father worked with Edgerton, at NACA during WWll.
The camera was kilometers away.
Scary images!
That’s amazing.
Interesting, I wonder if the actual primary detonation that sets off the Chain Reaction photos are classified. You could probably deduce the physical formation of the primary explosive to the critical mass.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.