Bullet Through Flame (Schlieren Method) © Kim Vandiver and Harold Edgerton

What do you see?

Help document Doc's Images so they can be more accessible to human readers and search engines.

  • write a comment »
  • add keyword tags »
  • Description and Keyword Tags
  • Comments (20)

Description: (curated)

Schlieren photograph of a bullet passing through the heat above a candle flame, taken by Edgerton and his assistant Kim Vandiver. The sound from the rifle triggered a microphone that fired the microsecond flash. The optical field that allows the differences in air density to be visible to the camera is created by a careful alignment of large concave mirrors and apertures. Different filters allow the range of colors to be varied. See also HEE-(from "Stopping TIme" (1987), p. 138-9.) (CC)

HEE-NC-73002

Keywords:

bullet bullet flame bullet through fire bullet through flame bullet through smoke flaming bullet lava schlieren shockwave thebulletoffire
  1. abby says:
    December 31, 2009 at 11:41 am

    what is this, its sooo cool

  2. CHRIS says:
    February 27, 2010 at 1:36 pm

    AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!

  3. Obama says:
    March 28, 2010 at 1:36 pm

    What is this? Doc is so cool.

  4. Your Name (made public) says:
    April 13, 2010 at 11:50 am

    its a bullet shooting through the heat of a flame from a candle

  5. Alec says:
    June 11, 2010 at 6:36 pm

    An image of a bullet passing through a column of hot air generated by a candle. The hot air is less dense than the surrounding air, causing it to refract light slightly differently, and thus appear visible on film. This photo was taken to capture the shock waves generated by the bullet’s supersonic motion.

  6. Desmond says:
    September 5, 2010 at 11:34 am

    how to do that?

  7. yasmin says:
    December 5, 2010 at 12:20 pm

    embryo

  8. olivia sofie sheehan says:
    January 22, 2011 at 10:28 am

    I think it is dynamite that has a bullet going through it and making fire.

  9. Cain says:
    February 20, 2011 at 2:18 pm

    a bulliet pernertrating heated air?

  10. Adam says:
    February 27, 2011 at 11:22 am

    Bullet going through flames

  11. paeyton says:
    March 20, 2011 at 10:38 am

    a bullet going through blood

  12. rose says:
    April 8, 2011 at 7:59 am

    i think this really captures the power of a bullet and the beauty it holds but how we associate it with such a negative aspect of our culture…death.

  13. Julia says:
    April 25, 2011 at 11:06 pm

    This technique is Schlieren photography

  14. carol clark says:
    June 27, 2011 at 12:55 pm

    is it a speeding bullet?

  15. Quantas fortunas « Movimentos says:
    July 6, 2011 at 10:05 pm

    [...] http://edgerton-digital-collections.org/galleries/museum/hee-nc-73002?nowrap [...]

  16. Jay Flitton says:
    July 22, 2011 at 7:06 pm

    I wonder what the Mach number (speed) of the bullet might be?

  17. Fisher Gates says:
    September 4, 2011 at 9:07 am

    Fire pushing water up and then some shot a bullett through it

  18. Yuni G says:
    October 8, 2011 at 12:42 pm

    It looks like fire! Who made this?

  19. Henry says:
    December 31, 2011 at 1:45 pm

    A bullet going through the heated air above a candle flame.

  20. Bob says:
    December 31, 2011 at 1:47 pm

    It looks like a christmas light in your leg muscle

  21. Kim Vandiver says:
    July 25, 2012 at 6:56 pm

    I took this photo in 1974. The Mach number is approximately 1.03=1/sin(angle between the wake and the shock wave). The hot air and the shock waves are made visible by a technique called schlieren. 1/3rd micro-second exposure on ASA 160 Ektachrome film.

Click here to cancel reply.