Description: (curated)

A soap bubble filled with helium is pierced by a .22 caliber bullet, creating a shock wave (sharply delineated in yellow). Different gasses were introduced into the bubbles in order to study the varying speed of sound through different media. The myriad refractions make the bubble resemble a living organism. The photograph required a highly complicated technique to make visible regions of varying refraction and varying density of air. Edgerton and his assistant Kim Vandiver used the schlieren interference method for this optical study. (from "Stopping TIme" (1987), p.137) (CC)

Schlieren photography

HEE-NC-73006

Keywords:

1. redoy says:

   April 11, 2010 at 9:29 am

   it’s cool

2. mistral olaverria says:

   May 11, 2010 at 10:50 am

   interesting . . .

3. Dan says:

   June 25, 2010 at 8:52 am

   able to see things that are faster than the human eye can register

4. dffs says:

   September 4, 2011 at 9:08 am

   

5. Claire Calcagno says:

   March 3, 2012 at 6:58 pm

   See Edgerton’s “Stopping Time” (1987) p. 137.

6. Kim Vandiver says:

   July 25, 2012 at 6:59 pm

   This is perhaps my favorite of all the color schlieren photographs that I took with Doc Edgerton. The surface of the soap bubble has tiny rivers of liquid flowing down from the air hose. The rainbows on the bubble are thin film interference patterns. 1/3rd micro-second exposure. The bubble breaks very slowly compared to the time it takes the bullet to leave the scene.