N. Harmonik

What would happen if a nuclear explosion occurred in the thermosphere?

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Call me Z Profile
Call me Z answered

At over 50 miles above the earth’s surface, a nuclear explosion in the thermosphere would rain radiation down over a wide region and the blast would be blindingly bright, wide, diffused, and heard for hundreds of miles. Hard to say what damage would be sustained on the ground due to terrain.

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N. Harmonik
N. Harmonik commented
How far out would an explosion like that have to be before it didn't cause damage to the area of the planet below but still create a shockwave? It's for a story that a friend is writing.
Call me Z
Call me Z commented
First, it would be let to know the size (in kilotons) of the blast. The detonation would need to occur where air existed to affect a shockwave. Once beyond the atmosphere there is no air to move. I don’t know of any studies that present measurements on nuclear blasts in space.
Willie B. good Profile
Willie B. good answered

Since there is no atmosphere in space, there would be no mushroom cloud nor a blast wave. Instead there would be an intense outpouring of not only heat and light but high intensity radiation in the form of gamma rays and x-rays.

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N. Harmonik
N. Harmonik commented
But the thermosphere IS part of the Earth's atmosphere.
Willie B. good
Willie B. good commented
The thermosphere is considered part of the Earth's atmosphere, the air density is so low in this layer that most of the thermosphere is what we normally think of is outer space.

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