Light From Hiroshima

Most recent answer: 04/14/2017

Q:
Hello, I really enjoy reading here. Thank you very muchI have a question about nuclear weapon. As I know, when the nuclear bomb explodes it emits a lot of energy. And most of them would be 'light'(I have no idea what kind of rays though) If these energy forms the light energy, could the light generated by Hiroshima bombing possibly be still available or travelling somewhere in the universe? So that we could observe it?I am sorry if it doesn't make sense. But I just wondered if there would be any scientific traces still alive from the bombing 70 yrs old before.
- Youngjae Lih (age 30)
Lund, Sweden
A:

Some of the light got into space and is still traveling away from Earth. That would mostly be visible light because that travel most easily through our atmosphere. In principle we could see it if it bounced off a mirror 40 light years away. In practice it would be far too spread out and dim.

Mike W.


(published on 04/14/2017)