Vintage Nuclear Test Photographs Taken 1/10,000,000 of a Second After Ignition
Harold E. Edgerton was an early pioneer of high-speed camera technology. In the 1940s, he helped develop the Rapatronic camera, which could capture a still image with an exposure time of just ten billionths of a second.
This capability allowed scientists to photograph and study the complex reactions that occur within the first 1/10,000,000 of a second during nuclear tests. Researchers arranged Rapatronic cameras in groups, and carefully calibrated each device to capture a different instant of the nuclear ignition; these devices were located some distance from the ignition point, for obvious reasons.
A curious feature in many of these photographs is the group of bright “spikes” protruding from the bottom of the fireball. Known as as the “rope trick effect,” the spikes are caused by the rapid vaporization of guide wires that stabilize the nuclear test tower.
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