What are those LINES near nuclear explosions?

In this video we are going to answer one of the most frequently asked questions we receive from our viewers. What actually are those mysterious lines in many photos of nuclear explosions?

[grisslebear]

FUN FACT: It took ~240, 000 times longer to explain this phenomenon in this video than for the event to occur in real time.

[msredfox]

I've honestly never seen footage of the smoke rockets being fired off before detonating the nuke, so thanks for sharing that

[Warriorking.]

Although I'd seen those smoke trails, I always thought they were caused by some weird reaction between the air and the explosion. I never even thought they were put there deliberately to help monitor what was going on. Great video!

[Osmone_Everony]

The last clip (3:54) was also very interesting. We were able to see how the shock wave got reflected from the ground, ran vertically up in the air, deformed the fireball and dragged dust and smoke up behind it.

[scottieray]

Most impressed by the hard math/science behind these experiments. It makes me wonder how modern nuclear developments are conducted in current times considering live testing is banned. There seem to be periods in human history where developments just leapfrog into a whole new era.

[SirFloofy]

Whenever you see the shockwave hit houses it always looks like a huge blast of wind, but watching those smoke trails you understand it not wind its more like every particle of air suddenly wanted to exist 10 feet to the left and they're taking everything with them.

Edit. Okay so explosions are chemical reactions, two or more ingredients react with each other which creates heat which continues the reaction. But chemical reactions do not remove matter, they simply convert it to a different form, so if you have a fist sized ball of explosives and it all explodes then you are left with a ball of super dense super heated gasses that is equal to the mass of the ball but wants to take up much more space, so those gasses expand outwards but they cant break the speed of sound so it becomes a pressure wave expanding outwards in all directions. But as soon as the pressure wave passes over you the air stops, there is no energy imparted into the air it is simply trying to make room for the sudden expansion of hot gasses.

Nukes work the same way except instead of a chemical reaction turning solids to gasses its atoms splitting into two with some extra bits flying off, plus breaking the nuclear bond releases much more energy so everything gets much hotter and more heat equals more expansion equals more pressure and bigger boom.

The wind caused by nukes is not from the explosion but from the air expanding to far and springing back combined with a massive updraft from the fireball rising into the upper atmosphere.

Fun fact, any atomic bomb footage you have seen where the fireball seemed to have fiery legs its because the nuke was on top of a tower which was supported by cables and the heat has vaporized the cables so fast they basically explode.

[o.b.]

(3:00) is where the question ("what are those LINES...?") gets answered.
If you only want to know what these lines are - (3:00) is where you get your _(trivial)_ answer.
All before that is scientific stuff, that's surely interesting for some, but only serves to lead to that point.

[i-love-space]

It never ceases to amaze me how ingenious a large group of humans can be when they cooperate. Even the smartest individual cannot compare to the power of a large group of moderately smart people. It also shows how many potentially weird phenomena can be explained by our CURRENT ideas about the laws of physics if you spend enough time thinking about it.

[larularae]

I think the way shockwaves interact with smoke and dust is strangely beautiful, also really haunting

[That-Google-Guy]

Can we all take a moment to appreciate the ingenuity here? This is the nuclear explosion equivalent of those black and white lines/rulers on high speed camera videos. Truly an incredible work of engineering and practical knowledge

[Ninjahat]

A huge thank you! This has never been explained or at least been available information before. We are many who have been wondering for decades 🙂

[Whoozerdaddy]

I have wondered for decades what those lines were, so thank you for explaining them so succinctly.

[PyroChimp]

I remember noticing these when I was a teenager in documentaries but only now, twenty years later learned what they where from, Thank you.

[Asterra]

When I was like 7 or 8, I used to think those lines were, like, somehow related to the Earth's magnetosphere, like the nuke was somehow causing it to manifest visually. It obviously never occurred to me to wonder why the lines were always conveniently perpendicular to the camera.

[FrenkMelk]

So this is one of those imponderables I've had in my life for as long as I can remember. So glad I got it explained in such an elegant and succinct fashion. As soon as they gave the example of the heathered balloon I knew immediately what the purpose of the smoke trails was. Well done!

[gangalo]

This is a great part of YouTube. I got a question answered I didn’t know I had. 😊

[festeradams]

Thanks for that. Often seen the lines but didn't know if they were somehow an artifact of the explosion itself or something else. Good explanation of the "double flash" as well. A former boss I had many years ago helped design protective "flash glasses" that would protect an observer from the second flash (which does most of the damage). The protective "glasses" or actually goggles, would have to sense the first flash, then fire an extremely quick acting "squib charge" which would then drive a "shutter" closed to protect the wearers eyes.

[mogeroithe]

I’ve always noticed those trails, and was always curious what they were. I took them to be some mysterious aspect of the detonation itself, and wanted to know more about them.
Now I know, but although the explanation was interesting, I feel kinda underwhelmed to find that it wasn’t some exotic radiation being released.

[deantoth]

Probably one of the most amazing nuclear mini documentaries I've ever watched, good job.
I'm not sure if it's on purpose or if I'm listening to vintage samples, the delivery style is amazing as well. I really like the 1950s vibe.

[tomw]

I once attended an awkward (boring) birthday gathering where I only knew the host. I sat and marveled over one of the gifts, a thick volume of 10x14" color photos of nuke-tests with single-paragraph captions, one of which explained the smoke trails. Maybe I'm strange, but I found the book beautiful.