Monday, February 25, 2013

Rapatronic Nuclear Photographs

Damn Interesting writes Rapatronic Nuclear Photographs "Before long a professor of electrical engineering from MIT named Harold Eugene 'Doc' Edgerton invented the rapatronic camera, a device capable of capturing images from the fleeting instant directly following a nuclear explosion. These single-use cameras were able to snap a photo one ten-millionth of a second after detonation from about seven miles away, with an exposure time of as little as ten nanoseconds. At that instant, a typical fireball had already reached about 100 feet in diameter, with temperatures three times hotter than the surface of the sun."

2 comments:

Karl said...

He did some really incredible photography. My dad used to work for him at EG&G, and I recall meeting him when I toured MIT campus.

Howard said...

That's very cool.