Tidal Shoreline

Temporary patterns are inscribed into apparently stratified surface layers by water flowing down a beach slope at low tide on the beautiful Scottish Isle of Skye. The upper layer particles display a bright glint from sunlight.    

—Dirk Voigt, Leiden, Netherlands

27 Feb 2026

Plant 9 for our Spätlese 

A cut of vine wood, which is used in the production of Spätlese (a white wine of German origin made from grapes harvested late in the season), is observed in auto­fluorescence using an InnoQuant slide scanner. The image title is a salute to the classic movie “Plan 9 from Outer Space” from Ed Wood.

—Sample preparation: Celia Perrin, LVBE - UHA; Data acquisition: Mathilde Bouakil, Innopsys; Image recontruction/rendering: Olivier Haeberlé and Bruno Colicchio, IRIMAS - UHA, France

20 Feb 2026

Underwater Shadows

Bright rims are visible around the edges of shadows of leaves floating in a pool. This effect, which is caused by refraction and focusing of light, was investigated in 1983 by Sir Michael Berry and Jo Hajnal.  

—Andrea Aiello, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light, Erlangen, Germany

13 Feb 2026

Naturally Focused Undulations 

Naturally focused undulations on the back of a glass disk are illuminated by an LED and focused onto the translucent front as a network of caustics, exhibiting the geometries predicted by singularity theory.     

—Sculpture by glass artist Alison Stott, following discussions with University of Bristol physicist Michael Berry; exhibited in the H.H. Wills Physics Laboratory, University of Bristol, UK

06 Feb 2026

Light Thread

A microscope image of an optical step-index fiber that has been processed with a CO2 laser. The laser focus rotates around the fiber and writes a track into the surface. The fiber feeding generates the helical structure. Light that is guided in the fiber cladding disrupts the total internal reflection to the surrounding medium. [OPN 2025 Photo Contest Honorable Mention]    

—Steffen Böhme, Fraunhofer IOF, Jena, Germany

30 Jan 2026

Dispersion in the Lab 

This photo was captured during an experiment in a first-year lab course. The white light beam passes through the transparent prism, and its different components (colors) travel at different speeds, causing the appearance of the spectrum. [OPN 2025 Photo Contest Honorable Mention]  

—Yaryna Mamchur, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada

23 Jan 2026

Tea Glass Caustic

The curved surface of a glass of tea and the liquid within refract and focus sunlight into a bright, concentrated spot, which diffuses into an amber-tinted conical shape. The glass also acts as a prism, creating a miniature dispersion effect along the light pattern’s edges that results in a boomerang-like rainbow.[OPN 2025 Photo Contest Honorable Mention]    

—Vahid Abbasian, Washington University in St. Louis, MO, USA

16 Jan 2026

Vascular Elegance

A two-photon microscopy fluorescence lifetime imaging representation of an artery cross-section, showcasing the rich structural details of the vascular wall. The distinct layers of the artery, including the tunica intima, media and externa, are vividly highlighted, with free-labeling techniques employed to capture fluorescence signals.[OPN 2025 Photo Contest Honorable Mention]

—Ayman Adel Fouad Abdelhakeem, Boston University, MA, USA

09 Jan 2026

Sweet and Sour

Recrystallized from a solution in vodka, vitamin C and stevia accreted into a stunning mandala, with many light-refracting and -diffracting layers helping to bring out visual details. Image captured with a camera sensor attached to a trinocular microscope, along with a polarizing filter and a retarder (clear plastic food wrap).[OPN 2025 Photo Contest Honorable Mention]  

— Ivan A. Amato, South Orange, NJ, USA

02 Jan 2026