Jack Aeby

Jack W. Aeby (born August 16, 1923) is an American engineer most famous for having taken the only well-exposed color photograph of the first detonation of a nuclear weapon on July 16, 1945 at the Trinity site, New Mexico. While color motion pictures of the Trinity test were made, most were badly overexposed or damaged due to the fireball's tendency to blister and solarize the film. Aeby was a civilian assigned to the Health Physics Group with Emilio Segrè at the time his snapshot was taken.

Aeby is a source for a story about a notable estimate made by Enrico Fermi at that test:

cquote| As the shock wave hit Base Camp, Aeby saw Enrico Fermi with a handful of torn paper. "He was dribbling it in the air. When the shock wave came it moved the confetti. He thought for a moment."

Fermi had just estimated the yield of the first nuclear explosion. It was in the ball park. [ [http://larrycalloway.com/historic.html?_recordnum=105 The Trinity Test: Eyewitnesses] ]

Fermi's strips-of paper estimate was ten kilotons of TNT [ [http://www.lanl.gov/history/atomicbomb/pdf/Enrico%20Fermis%20Observations%20at%20Trinity,%20July%2016,%201945.pdf Enrico Fermi's Observations at Trinity] ] ; the actual yield was about 19 kilotons [ Nuclear weapon yield#Milestone nuclear explosions ] .

Aeby pronounces his surname /IPA|ˈæbi/, like "Abby".

References

* Jeffrey, Ian "et al" (1997). "The Photography Book". London:Phaidon Press Limited. ISBN 0-7148-4488-8

See also

*Berlyn Brixner – official Trinity test photographer

External links

* [http://www.abqjournal.com/trinity/trinity1.htm Article featuring Aeby talking about his photograph]
* [http://www.mbe.doe.gov/me70/manhattan/trinity_photograph.htm DOE page about Aeby's photograph]