Tsar Bomba

The Tsar Bomba was the biggest nuclear weapon in human history to ever be tested. It was carried out by the Russians under Nikita Khrushchev, who made claims to the West that they had a 100 megaton nuclear weapon. Production of the Tsar Bomba was rushed. "Show them Kuzka's mother!" he would say, at a UN assembly, among other things. History has shown that Nikki-Wikki was quite a dick, but that's neither here nor there.

On October 30th, 1961, at 11:32am in Novaya Zemblya, the Tsar Bomba detonated. The blast yielded approximately 50 megatons, which was 50 megatons less than estimated. But the blast wave went around the world three times. Finland experienced a major brunt of the 1,000-kilometer shock, what-with windows shattering and other things.

If the Tsar Bomba were any more powerful, like higher than the desired 100 megatons, the explosion would have ripped apart the atmosphere.

This image is my take on what the very, very nanosecond of the explosion would have looked like, thanks to Photoshop. My skills are evolving, and this work is no exception. I hope you like it. And pray to God that weapons like this never have to be used in real-life.