Comments on: Professor Edgerton’s Atomic Camera

By: JarvisLoop

JarvisLoop — Thu, 09 Mar 2023 02:18:24 +0000

An engineer’s brain is a freak of nature.

By: Alan Bellows

Alan Bellows — Sat, 11 Aug 2018 16:49:04 +0000

@Joe: Oops, you are correct. I updated the image a few weeks ago and mistakenly used a non-rapatronic photo. Thanks for the heads up!

By: Joe

Joe — Sat, 11 Aug 2018 14:47:27 +0000

I don’t know if somebody already mentioned this, but according to Wikipedia (and I don’t know how accurate that is), the author of the Trinity photo on top is not Edgerton, but Berlyn Brixner.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Trinity_Test_Fireball_16ms.jpg

By: Higgins292

Higgins292 — Sun, 07 Aug 2016 02:53:21 +0000

To the anonymous user in the first cmoment.
The way a polarising filter works is by only allowing light through traveling in one vectors direction.
Take the example of a vertical filter. Only light oscillating in the vertical direction can pass through. Now imagine the second filter aligned in the same direction. All the light goes through as it is all oscillating in the same direction.
If you tilt the second filter by one degree you block out some of the light but not all of it. I can’t explain it very well but once the second filter has been rotated 90 degrees none of the light can pass through because none of it is oscillating in that direction.
I think it’s schnells law that describes this but I can’t remember

By: Nsb

Nsb — Sat, 05 Mar 2016 16:33:40 +0000

It would be neat to see those pictures in ultraviolet, infrared, gamma, microwave, et. al. Wavelengths only. I suppose a polarized filter wouldn’t work for gamma and x ray pictures even if the polarization lines were made of lead I assume they’d be to thin to filter anything. It would require an entirely different Camara design. It would be cool to see pics of other Wavelengths than just visible though.

By: Nsb

Nsb — Sat, 05 Mar 2016 16:26:12 +0000

If the lines of polarization were less than the amplitude of the light would light get through spread out showing the quantum wave function? So if you put those together at 90° to each other could light still get through

By: DLWELD

DLWELD — Thu, 29 Oct 2015 22:12:07 +0000

OK on the rope trick phenomonon – but what about the small bright spots than some fireballs show? Are they from birds in the air, caught in the explosion – or what?

By: Don

Don — Sat, 01 Feb 2014 03:18:46 +0000

Anonymous User said: “Is it right that when one sets 2 polarization filters aligned 90 degrees one from each other they prevent light from passing though? My understanding is that 25% of the light would remain after the second filter, as quantum physics mandate. Actually, the fact that a polarization filter, which only allows light to pass coming from a single polarization angle, allows 50% of the light to pass through is something puzzling (just consider that light is supposed to have a full 360 degrees polarization distribution), and can only be undersood under the light of quantum mechanics (no pun intended).”

Maybe is had to do with the film speed. It could be that 25% of light would not even expose the film. After all we are looking at something that’s as bright or brighter than the sun. It could be that it takes 100% to create a proper exposure. Then again there could be an exposure from 25%, but its washed out from the full exposure.

By: allanwhite

allanwhite — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 19:03:02 +0000

The “rope trick effect”, as I recall, is the wires fluorescing (essentially turning into plasma) from the gamma (or was it X-ray?) burst, which precedes the visual effects by a few picoseconds (or is it femtoseconds?). I’m sure it’s on wikipedia…

Ehh, just read it, apparently it’s thermal shock.

By: Leighther

Leighther — Mon, 13 Nov 2006 02:18:28 +0000

gypse: I think they used to launch rockets to leave smoke trails in the air before detonating the A-bomb, the smoke trails would show the effect of the shockwave in the air.