Automatic Camera situated 7 miles from blast with 10 foot lens. Shutter speed equaled 1/100,000,000 of-a-second exposure:
The electric like energy that runs down the towers guide wires:
Joshua tree's near base get vaporized in just microseconds:
10 ms after detonation:
20 ms after detonation. The bright band near the base is the emerging Mach stem, an area of maximum shock:
30 ms after detonation. Mach stem continues to grow:
Roughly 1 ms after detonation:
This test was a "fizzle" in yield, and suspended from a balloon 1500 feet above surface. The balloon's mooring cables absorbed thermal energy ahead of the fireball and created the three spikes visible.
A thermonuclear test, the 'black stick' towards the lower right of the picture is a 300-foot tower, on which the device rested. The remains of the shot cab form the 'pimple' on the right:
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