star trek - Why does a photon torpedo glow red when in mid-flight?

In all of the Star Trek episodes that have battles, the photon torpedo glows a bright rotating red when fired from the ship before it hits its target.

Pictures of a torpedo show that it's just a containment of a bomb being fired like a missile from our time period. What happens to that casing when it's fired? is it still part of the torpedo, or was it shot off during the exit hatch?

Is the glowing red ball the actual bomb that was in the casing?

Answer

I could not find any canon references, but it is worth noting that federation impulse engines emit red light when in operation. We could assume that photon torpedoes are equipped with an mini impulse drive because they can be programmed with a course or to track a target (as far as I know they don't have a warp drive -- only the ability to sustain the warp bubble imparted by the launching vessel).

The rotation could be a result of the torpedo rotating on its axis for stabilization.

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