This image is a shadowgraph of a .22 CCI Stinger bullet traveling through air. It is traveling approximately 1640 feet per second.

A shadowgraph is made by using a point light source and film without a camera or lens. It records any air disturbances the bullet causes. The black V-shaped lines are the shock waves or air flow around the bullet as it travels through air. Its gas trail is evident behind it.

Note the smaller fragment(s) traveling in a downward path, to the right and below the bullet. It produced a small shockwave at the tip of the group of the debris. Studying the shape of its shockwave, its speed is estimated at around 1000 feet per second.

Shadowgraphs reveal much useful information. The angle at the center of the main large V-shaped black line indicates the speed of the bullet. Bullets traveling faster will produce a tighter shaped V around the bullet, while bullets traveling slower will produce more of a blunt arc shaped line.