Template:POTD/2007-03-27
Picture of the day archives
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2007 March
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Picture of the day
A
Rapatronic
photo of the
rope trick effect
, the name for the lines and spikes which can emanate from the fireball of a
nuclear explosion
just after detonation, from the
Tumbler-Snapper
test series
of 1952. The fireball has a surface
temperature
of over 20,000
kelvins
and emits huge amounts of
visible light
radiation. The "rope tricks" which protrude from the bottom are caused by the heating, rapid vaporization and then expansion of the mooring cables tethering the tower supporting the
nuclear bomb
at the start of the test.
Photo credit:
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
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