Multimedia / After Images

After Image

The beauty of light, as seen on the last page of each OPN issue

Light from a plastic shell
Light from a plastic shell

Light reflection and dispersion from a lens housed in a plastic shell, as seen through a microscope.  

—Catalin Florea, Avo Photonics

20 Dec 2017

Internal reflection
Internal reflection

A green laser beam propagating in a plastic tube filled with olive oil shows total internal reflection and the Goos-Hänchen shift on dielectric boundaries. Reddish color of the beam inside the oil is due to the fluorescence of chlorophyll molecules.  

—Emilio Gómez-González, Universidad de Sevilla, Spain

20 Nov 2017

Hurricane Irma
Hurricane Irma

Geocolor image of Hurricane Irma passing the eastern end of Cuba on 8 September 2017.   

—NOAA/CIRA

01 Nov 2017

August Solar Eclipse
August Solar Eclipse

A view of the 21 August solar eclipse through the arms of “The Sentinel,” a large metal sculpture by Albert Paley at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT). A tight camera aperture (f/32) creates a “starburst” image, while reflections within the camera system cause colorful ghost images of the partially eclipsed sun.  

—​Grover Swartzlander, RIT

10 Oct 2017

Plasma from a Physalis Dimer
Plasma from a Physalis Dimer

Plasma from a physalis dimer in a microwave oven. With an index of refraction of 8.5 at microwave frequencies (2.5 GHz), aqueous spheres may act as resonant cavities, concentrating electric fields at the point of contact and creating an ionic plasma.   

—Aaron D. Slepkov and Hamza Khattak, Trent University, Ontario, Canada

14 Sep 2017

Greenflies
Greenflies

Scanning electron micrograph of a greenfly eye. Greenflies have a pair of compound eyes for accurate perception of movement. The small protrusion coming from the side of the eye, called an ocular tubercle, is made up of three lenses (triommatidium).  

—Kevin Mackenzie, University of Aberdeen, Scotland, 2014 Wellcome Image Awards

29 Jun 2017

Riverside Geyser
Riverside Geyser

“Riverside Geyser” and the Firehole River in the Upper Geyser Basin at Yellowstone Park.  

—Joseph Shaw, Montana State University, Bozeman, Mont., USA

29 Jun 2017

Plasma Chamber
Plasma Chamber

The observation port into a plasma chamber shows a well-defined interference pattern. The contour fringes, observed in white light, are due to a very small particle stuck between two glass sheets creating a wedge effect. The 15 fringes observed in the green light portion of the spectrum (550 nm) suggest the particle height to be about 4 μm.  

—Catalin Florea, Avo Photonics

30 Apr 2017

Cola, light, caustics and a Pokemon face?
Cola, light, caustics and a Pokemon face?

When a plastic bottle of cola, almost empty, is illuminated from above, the freeform lens that’s created focuses light, forming fanciful caustics.  

—José A. Díaz, Universidad de Granada, Spain

17 Apr 2017

Texture of the twist-bend nematic
Texture of the twist-bend nematic

Texture of the twist-bend nematic (Ntb) phase taken with an applied electric field between crossed polarizers of a microscope. The width of image is ~400 microns.

—Volodymyr Borshch, Kent State University, Ohio, USA

17 Apr 2017

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