Why did the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima leave shadows of people etched on sidewalks?

[Judi Lynn]

By Stacy Kish - Live Science Contributor 4 days ago

These aren't regular shadows.




A human shadow on the steps of a bank in Hiroshima, following the explosion of the nuclear bomb in August 1945.

A human shadow on the steps of a bank in Hiroshima, following the explosion of the nuclear bomb in August 1945. (Image credit: Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

Black shadows of humans and objects, like bicycles, were found scattered across the sidewalks and buildings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, two of the largest cities in Japan, in the wake of the atomic blast detonated over each city on Aug. 6 and 9, 1945, respectively.

It's hard to fathom that these shadows likely encapsulated each person's last moments. But how did these shadows come to be?

According to Dr. Michael Hartshorne, emeritus trustee of the National Museum of Nuclear Science and History in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and professor emeritus of radiology at the University of New Mexico School of Medicine, when each bomb exploded, the intense light and heat spread out from the point of implosion. Objects and people in its path shielded objects behind them by absorbing the light and energy. The surrounding light bleached the concrete or stone around the "shadow."

In other words, those eerie shadows are actually how the sidewalk or building looked, more or less, before the nuclear blast. It's just that the rest of the surfaces were bleached, making the regularly colored area look like a dark shadow.

More:
https://www.livescience.com/nuclear-bomb-wwii-shadows.html

[Layzeebeaver]

1. Fascinating

We need more science about this and also less nuclear weapons.

edit: make that no nuclear weapons.

[Tadpole Raisin]

2. Wow that's incredible!

[scipan]

3. I did not know that! Thanks!

I thought it was the remnants of the person/ object.

[Warpy]

4. I think that was on the steps of the Hrioshima branch of a large bank

where people were running to take refuge. That particular shadow was cut out of the surrounding stone and concrete and is now in the Atomic Bomb Dome museum. I don't know if anyone has ever analyzed it to determine if vaporized human might be part of it, I would imagine not, it represents the grave of a man running for his life.