Colors in Polarized Light 

A tea bag’s thin plastic wrapper reveals polarimetric patterns when placed between a computer monitor and a polarized sunglass lens. The monitor acts as a polarization state generator, while the sunglass lens serves as a polarization state analyzer.     

—Negin Mohammadzadeh and Asra Mafakheri, Department of Physics, Institute for Advanced Studies in Basic Sciences (IASBS), Zanjan, Iran

09 Oct 2026

Snowflake in Phase 

A melting snowflake is shown as a quantitative phase map in which color encodes the optical path length of light through the crystal, proportional to its thickness. The densely packed color fringes are contours of equal thickness that trace the 3D relief of the dendritic arms, while the smoothly varying background records the nanometer-scale water film on the substrate. A laser beam illuminates the sample directly, with no lens anywhere in the system. A coded surface on the image sensor’s cover glass acts as a computational lens for ptychographic reconstruction. [Ref: Nat Commun., doi: 10.1038/s41467-026-75092-8] 

—Guoan Zheng, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, USA

02 Oct 2026

Painting with Infrared

Beyond the visible spectrum, thermal radiation sketches a vibrant pattern of hot and cool regions, illustrating how infrared imaging reveals an otherwise unseen world of heat.    

—Ramin Jamali and Saeid Mollaei, Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, University of Zanjan, Zanjan, Iran

25 Sep 2026

Explosion of Color

Crystals of magnesium sulfate dissolving and crystalizing in solution, photographed using compensated polarization microscopy.[Winner Ireland Wiki Science Competition 2025; CC-BY-4.0]

—Karl Gaff, Art of Science Photography, Dublin, Ireland

18 Sep 2026

Psyche Approaches Mars

This composite photo shows the crescent of Mars grow as NASA’s Psyche spacecraft approached the planet for a gravity assist from 2 to 15 May 2026. Because Psyche approached Mars from a high phase angle, the planet appeared as a thin crescent in the days running up to the close approach, lit by sunlight reflecting off its surface. https://www.nasa.gov/image-article/psyche-approaches-mars/    

—NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU

11 Sep 2026

The Corona

Image of a corona formed behind the Dreifaltigkeits-Pestsäule in Graz, Austria.  

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

04 Sep 2026

Painting the Rainbow

Bright structural colors emerge from nanoscale metal-dielectric-metal (MDM) Fabry-Pérot cavities fabricated by sputtering. Variations in the cavity thickness tune the optical interference conditions, painting the surface with a rainbow of structural colors.    

—Souvik Ghosh, BITS Pilani K K Birla Goa Campus, Goa, India

28 Aug 2026

Atomic Layer Precision

Thin films of oxides are deposited with atomic layer precision using pulsed laser deposition. A high-intensity pulsed laser is shooting onto the rotating white target of Al2O3 (alumina). The laser pulse creates a plasma explosion visible as the purple cloud. The plasma cloud expands toward the square substrate, consisting of SrTiO3 , where it deposits thin layers of alumina. This results in a conducting interface between the two materials. The substrate is mounted on a heating plate, glowing red from a temperature of 650ºC, to improve the crystallinity of the alumina thin film.[Bangladesh Wiki Science Competition 2025; CC-BY-4.0]    

—Adam Andersen Læssøe, Danmarks Tekniske Universitet, Denmark

21 Aug 2026

Aurora Australis 

The aurora australis arcs over Earth during an active solar event in this photograph taken on 5 June 2026, from the International Space Station as it orbited 271 miles above the Indian Ocean southwest of Perth, Australia. Source: nasa.gov/image-article/aurora-australis-7/

—NASA / Jessica Meir 

14 Aug 2026