After Images
The beauty of light, as seen on the last page of each OPN issue
Laser-induced plasma
Laser-induced plasma on an acoustically levitated water drop. A 4-microliter water drop is levitated at the center of an acoustic cavity made by two arrays of compact ultrasonic transducers (cylinders at the top and bottom of the image). A laser pulse is fired and focused from left to right to hit the droplet and induce a plasma (white light).
—Victor Contreras, UNAM, Cuernavaca, Mexico
01 Jan 2025
Water on the moon
In a stop-action shot of water dripping from a faucet into a blue cup of water, motion is frozen by a flash that illuminates an image of the moon. The water drops act as lenses that bring the moon into focus, morphing from a cylindrical lens at the top to a spherical lens at the bottom.[OPN 2024 Photo Contest Editors’ Choice]
—Fredrik Fatemi, VA, USA
01 Dec 2024
Laser-Induced Damages
Laser-induced damage to a dielectric high-reflection coating on fused silica after destructive testing of the damage threshold. Delamination of coating layers down to the substrate can be observed at sites exposed to very high fluences over many shots.
—Frederik Hasselmann, OHB System AG, Munich, Germany
01 Nov 2024
Internal surface of a ceramic bowl
The internal surface of a ceramic bowl placed on blue paper and illuminated with sunlight forms a caustic—the curve where all light rays that have been reflected from a curved surface meet. Fujifilm XH-2, f/11, 1/3 sec, ISO-125, focal length 33 mm.
—Andrea Aiello, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light, Erlangen, Germany
01 Oct 2024
Thin crystalline film
Thin crystalline film of cesium chloride imaged in compensated polarized light microscopy, magnification 100×.
—Karl Gaff, Art of Science Photography, Dublin, Ireland, Wiki Science Competition 2021; CC-BY-4.0
01 Sep 2024
Green Fire
A light sheet generated with a laser passes through a turbulent flow of humid air.
—Emiliano Hernández Figueroa, Instituto de Energías Renovables de la UNAM, Temixco, Mexico
01 Jul 2024
Colorful Scattering
The scattering of light creates vivid colors in 12,479 hanging fibers representing 12,479 famous ancient Chinese paintings in a special exhibition at Jiaxing Culture & Art Centre, Jiaxing, China. [OPN 2023 Photo Contest]
—Zhijun Xu, Zhejiang University of Technology, Zhejiang, China
01 Jun 2024
Laser-Induced Damage
Self-destructive beauty: Image of laser-induced damage on an optical surface recorded with a Nomarski type microscope.
—Lidaris LIDT Service, European Science Photo Competition 2015, CC BY-SA 4.0
01 May 2024
Galactic Tapestry
Threads of superheated gas and magnetic fields weave a tapestry of energy at the center of the Milky Way galaxy in this image created with a giant mosaic of data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and the MeerKAT radio telescope in South Africa.
—X-ray: NASA/CXC/UMass/Q.D. Wang Radio: NRF/SARAO/MeerKAT
01 Apr 2024
Soft tissue illuminated by a headlight
Soft tissue (leg) contact-illuminated by an LED-panel headlight. The red hue results from lower tissue attenuation at that longer wavelength causing red light to re-emit. The yellow is due to stronger surface scattering and the greater spectral intensity of the LED in the yellow band. The staggered strips of red and yellow arise from the abnormality of the image stabilization of the iPhone 6S camera.
—Daqing (Daching) Piao, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK, USA
01 Mar 2024
