High-speed lightning videos
August 1, 2010 9:32 PM Subscribe
Wow.
What happened to the vehicle on his home page?
posted by lalochezia at 9:50 PM on August 1, 2010
What happened to the vehicle on his home page?
posted by lalochezia at 9:50 PM on August 1, 2010
Cool - reminds me of Missile Command!
posted by spilon at 9:54 PM on August 1, 2010 [6 favorites]
posted by spilon at 9:54 PM on August 1, 2010 [6 favorites]
I saw a show like this on Discovery once. Lightning is just so fascinating.
posted by thebenman at 10:05 PM on August 1, 2010
posted by thebenman at 10:05 PM on August 1, 2010
Holy crap this is amazing.
I want to know what kind of gear he's using to get usable images with those ridiculously short exposures.
posted by spitefulcrow at 10:43 PM on August 1, 2010
I want to know what kind of gear he's using to get usable images with those ridiculously short exposures.
posted by spitefulcrow at 10:43 PM on August 1, 2010
9000 fps sounds crazy. How do they even make a camera that can shoot 9000 frames per second.
posted by Skygazer at 11:23 PM on August 1, 2010
posted by Skygazer at 11:23 PM on August 1, 2010
Tom A. Warner is the greatest man who ever lived.
posted by dirigibleman at 11:30 PM on August 1, 2010
posted by dirigibleman at 11:30 PM on August 1, 2010
☁⌁ !
posted by mazola at 11:53 PM on August 1, 2010 [3 favorites]
posted by mazola at 11:53 PM on August 1, 2010 [3 favorites]
I haven't watched these yet, but I expect they'll be really, really boring unless he actually slows them down, too. Because I don't know about your youtube, but mind can't really do 9,000 fps yet. We'll see, I guess.
posted by koeselitz at 11:58 PM on August 1, 2010 [2 favorites]
posted by koeselitz at 11:58 PM on August 1, 2010 [2 favorites]
mind = mine, obviously. Mind can certainly handle 9,000 fps, but I haven't gotten youtube piped directly into my mind yet.
posted by koeselitz at 11:59 PM on August 1, 2010
posted by koeselitz at 11:59 PM on August 1, 2010
This one is my favourite, because the vehicle in the video is apparently going 60mph... helps you grasp just how fast lightning is.
posted by mek at 1:29 AM on August 2, 2010 [2 favorites]
posted by mek at 1:29 AM on August 2, 2010 [2 favorites]
Not slow-motion, but probably the closest strike I've ever seen on video. The bolt is as thick as a tree. It's like a giant sequoia of light and death. It's insane.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 4:29 AM on August 2, 2010
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 4:29 AM on August 2, 2010
the vehicle in the video is apparently going 60mph
That was really cool...until the wiper blade ruined the illusion. Maybe he's got some mega-zoom thing going on?
The car moves a couple of apparent millimeters while the blade moves in the multiples of centimeters in the same time span. Call it a factor of ~100. In actual linear speed, the windshield is probably ~1/10 the speed of the moving car, so the real factor is more like 1000. If the wiper is 1-2ft from the camera, then the car must be ~.25 miles from it. OK, I can buy that.
posted by DU at 4:37 AM on August 2, 2010 [1 favorite]
That was really cool...until the wiper blade ruined the illusion. Maybe he's got some mega-zoom thing going on?
The car moves a couple of apparent millimeters while the blade moves in the multiples of centimeters in the same time span. Call it a factor of ~100. In actual linear speed, the windshield is probably ~1/10 the speed of the moving car, so the real factor is more like 1000. If the wiper is 1-2ft from the camera, then the car must be ~.25 miles from it. OK, I can buy that.
posted by DU at 4:37 AM on August 2, 2010 [1 favorite]
How do they even make a camera that can shoot 9000 frames per second.
With an non-mechanical shutter and multiple wide & fast data paths in the image-processing and storage electronics.
A non-mechanical shutter is either an electronic shutter, that effectively turns the image sensor on only during the exposure, and then off again to end the exposure, or something like a Kerr cell shutter if the image sensor needs to be physically occluded. A Kerr cell can shutter can, with the right material, operate at up to 10 GHz - that's 10 billion exposures per second.
posted by kcds at 4:54 AM on August 2, 2010 [3 favorites]
With an non-mechanical shutter and multiple wide & fast data paths in the image-processing and storage electronics.
A non-mechanical shutter is either an electronic shutter, that effectively turns the image sensor on only during the exposure, and then off again to end the exposure, or something like a Kerr cell shutter if the image sensor needs to be physically occluded. A Kerr cell can shutter can, with the right material, operate at up to 10 GHz - that's 10 billion exposures per second.
posted by kcds at 4:54 AM on August 2, 2010 [3 favorites]
The Kerr effect, also called the quadratic electro-optic effect (QEO effect), is a change in the refractive index of a material in response to an applied electric field.
Whoa whoa whoa. Whoa. I've dreamt for a long time about an "electric telescope" but I assumed there was no way to refract light using an electric field. Say goodbye to grinding lenses!
posted by DU at 6:17 AM on August 2, 2010
Whoa whoa whoa. Whoa. I've dreamt for a long time about an "electric telescope" but I assumed there was no way to refract light using an electric field. Say goodbye to grinding lenses!
posted by DU at 6:17 AM on August 2, 2010
I am seeing things or does he catch a UFO on his camera beginning at 26 seconds of this video. It enters the frame from the right and makes it about a quarter of the way across the screen. What the hell is that?
posted by AElfwine Evenstar at 6:20 AM on August 2, 2010
posted by AElfwine Evenstar at 6:20 AM on August 2, 2010
Dyslexic typo: sorry it enters the frame from the left.
posted by AElfwine Evenstar at 6:22 AM on August 2, 2010
posted by AElfwine Evenstar at 6:22 AM on August 2, 2010
Before I will accept that object as unidentified, I'd like to see at least an attempt at identification.
posted by DU at 6:30 AM on August 2, 2010
posted by DU at 6:30 AM on August 2, 2010
Not only does lightning strike the same place twice, it strikes multiple times in the same place.
posted by tommasz at 7:35 AM on August 2, 2010
posted by tommasz at 7:35 AM on August 2, 2010
Before I will accept that object as unidentified, I'd like to see at least an attempt at identification.
Have at it. I'm not saying it's an alien craft for all you snarkaholics. Most probably just a jet aircraft, but I would be interested to know how fast it would have to be traveling to move that quickly across the frame.
posted by AElfwine Evenstar at 7:38 AM on August 2, 2010
Have at it. I'm not saying it's an alien craft for all you snarkaholics. Most probably just a jet aircraft, but I would be interested to know how fast it would have to be traveling to move that quickly across the frame.
posted by AElfwine Evenstar at 7:38 AM on August 2, 2010
The Hill Valley clock tower never stood a chance.
posted by notmydesk at 7:44 AM on August 2, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by notmydesk at 7:44 AM on August 2, 2010 [1 favorite]
Before I will accept that object as unidentified, I'd like to see at least an attempt at identification.
It's an insect, very close to the camera. If you review the first few seconds of that video, where it's not slowed-down, you can see there's a bug flying around nearby.
posted by Pliskie at 9:16 AM on August 2, 2010
It's an insect, very close to the camera. If you review the first few seconds of that video, where it's not slowed-down, you can see there's a bug flying around nearby.
posted by Pliskie at 9:16 AM on August 2, 2010
tommasz wrote: "Not only does lightning strike the same place twice, it strikes multiple times in the same place."
That's what I got from this. In one of the videos, it looked like the same place was struck seven times.
posted by wierdo at 10:00 AM on August 2, 2010
That's what I got from this. In one of the videos, it looked like the same place was struck seven times.
posted by wierdo at 10:00 AM on August 2, 2010
Wow.
posted by Durn Bronzefist at 12:43 PM on August 2, 2010
posted by Durn Bronzefist at 12:43 PM on August 2, 2010
These are astonishing -- a couple of them literally gave me the chills. I've seen highspeed recordings of lightning before, but never this kind of detail.
Cool.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 8:59 PM on August 2, 2010
Cool.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 8:59 PM on August 2, 2010
A
W W
E E
S S
O O O
M M
E
!
______\o/______
posted by chairface at 10:02 PM on August 2, 2010 [1 favorite]
W W
E E
S S
O O O
M M
E
!
______\o/______
posted by chairface at 10:02 PM on August 2, 2010 [1 favorite]
I spent summers in Rapid City as a kid, and these SCARED ME. They have SRS thunderstorms!
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 12:52 AM on August 3, 2010
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 12:52 AM on August 3, 2010
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posted by ReeMonster at 9:36 PM on August 1, 2010