# The Tsar Bomb - Pictures? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 11, 2003, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tsar-bomb-pictures/194371 "2003-08-11T13:31:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![c42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a87d85/32.png) [@c42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/c42)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2003, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tsar-bomb-pictures/194371/1 "2003-08-11T13:31:18Z")
I’m not sure if this is the right forum to be asking this kind of question, but here goes anyways. I was looking up pictures of nuclear explosions (probably best not to ask why) and I found out that the largest nuke ever was the so-called “Tsar Bomb” of 50-58 megatons, exploded in 1961 in Novaya Zemyla, USSR. I’ve found oodles of photos of the bomb itself (it’s HUUGE) and I was hoping that someone could point me towards any photos/videos/books with images of the explosion itself… Thanks for considering my morbid curiosity, Chris ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2003, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tsar-bomb-pictures/194371/2 "2003-08-11T13:39:16Z")
I think that this is the explosion that I see from time to time on TV. Mainly what is shown in the force of the shock waves (I think) as they hit a forest and all of the trees go down at exactly the same instant. But if you ever see it yourself, perhaps you will recognize it. Surely there is a clip on the net somewhere. ---
**Author:** ![c42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a87d85/32.png) [@c42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/c42)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2003, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tsar-bomb-pictures/194371/3 "2003-08-11T13:51:20Z")
I’ve checked most of the search engines on the net, and I can’t find hide nor hair of this explosion. Odd that a 58 megaton nuke can hide so easily…😃 I think I saw it on “People’s Century” a few years a go, but not on anything else. Maybe there’s a Discovery doco I should watch out for… Thanks for the advice **Zoe** , I’ll keep up my search. ---
**Author:** ![Lsura](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7993a0/32.png) [@Lsura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lsura)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2003, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tsar-bomb-pictures/194371/4 "2003-08-11T14:07:12Z")
Well, I found [this](http://www.milparade.com/2000/38/07_01.shtml), but it’s an underwater test, and I don’t see a megaton specified. I also found [this](http://www.american.edu/TED/ice/NOVALYA.HTM) (down at the bottom of the page). Again, I don’t know if it’s the right one. You might check the spelling of “Novaya Zemyla”. Google gave me no results with that, but did give the option of “Novaya Zemlya”. When I add Tsar or Czar or Csar to the search, I’m getting no results. ---
**Author:** ![c42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a87d85/32.png) [@c42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/c42)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2003, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tsar-bomb-pictures/194371/5 "2003-08-11T14:19:27Z")
I probably should have posted more info to begin with… And gotten the spelling right :smack:. Thanks for the correction **Lsura**. Lots of information can be found [here](http://nuketesting.enviroweb.org/hew/Russia/TsarBomba.html), but no photos of the explosion itself ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Umbriel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9de053/32.png) [@Umbriel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Umbriel)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2003, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tsar-bomb-pictures/194371/6 "2003-08-12T13:11:16Z")
I don’t know of any pics either. I would assume that the Soviet obsession with secrecy would have kept them out of circulation until recently, though given the propaganda focus of the whole project, perhaps not. I thought that those who found this topic interesting might also enjoy [something from the other end of the spectrum](http://www.guntruck.com/DavyCrockett.html). Note the interesting feature that big = clean, small = dirty. ---
**Author:** ![c42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a87d85/32.png) [@c42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/c42)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2003, 10:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tsar-bomb-pictures/194371/7 "2003-08-13T10:15:12Z")
The fact that we actually made those suckers scares the bejesus out of me. Apparently there were nukes for every imaginable use…