Seeing the Light: Visibility of the July '45 Trinity Atomic Bomb Test from the Inner Solar System

Autor/in	Reed, B. Cameron
Titel	Seeing the Light: Visibility of the July '45 Trinity Atomic Bomb Test from the Inner Solar System
Quelle	In: Physics Teacher, 44 (2006) 9, S.604-606 (3 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0031-921X
DOI	10.1119/1.2396780
Schlagwörter	Scientific Concepts; Weapons; Nuclear Physics; Astronomy; Light; Scientific Principles; Scientific Research; Investigations; Inquiry + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Weapon; Waffe; Atomphysik; Kernphysik; Astronomie; Licht; Untersuchung
Abstract	In his "The Making of the Atomic Bomb," Richard Rhodes remarks of the July 16, 1945, Trinity atomic bomb test in New Mexico that "had astronomers been watching they could have seen it reflected from the moon, literal moonshine," an allusion to Ernest Rutherford's famous dismissal of the prospect of atomic energy. Investigating this impressive claim makes for a nice exercise in exploring astronomical magnitudes and leads to other intriguing questions: Just how bright would the explosion have appeared to an observer on the Moon, say, as compared to Venus? What about an observer on Mars or otherwise located in the solar system? What fraction of the bomb's yield was in the form of visible light? (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	American Association of Physics Teachers. One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740. Tel: 301-209-3300; Fax: 301-209-0845; e-mail: pubs@aapt.org; Web site: http://scitation.aip.org/tpt
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2020/1/01