Image of the Week
Striking images of optics and photonics, contributed by OPN readers
Solar Eclipse
The solar eclipse of 8 April 2024 seen through the ocular of a reflective telescope. The photo was taken with a cell phone in Aguascalientes, Mexico, where the eclipse had a maximum of 92%.
—Mariana Alfaro-Gomez, Universidad Autónoma de Aguascalientes, Aguascalientes, Mexico
12 Apr 2024
An Eye in the Sky
Image of the night sky in Ediger-Eller, Germany, displays a nice combination of imagination and optical diffraction at work.
—Gerd Leuchs, Optica 2024 President and Max Planck Institute, Germany
05 Apr 2024
Solid Medium–Based SSPM
Spatial self-phase modulation (SSPM) observed on an MoS2-based solid medium. The phase of the laser’s Gaussian beam is modulated to SSPM concentric rings with the help of the solid medium.
—Mahalingam Babu and Pritam Shetty, formerly with IIITDM Kancheepuram, Tamil Nadu, India
29 Mar 2024
Diffraction of Memory
A UV-erasable EPROM chip mounted in a black socket. The characteristic quartz window reveals a silicon die inside, which exhibits a colorful diffraction pattern indicative of the chip’s microstructure.
— Edgar Guevara, CONAHCYT-UASLP, San Luis Potosi, Mexico
22 Mar 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
15 Mar 2024
Solar Corona
A solar corona with well-defined colors photographed in September 2022 in Palermo, Sicily, Italy.
—Teresa Molinaro, photographer, Palermo, Italy; Instagram: fotografia_ astronomia
08 Mar 2024
Laser-Stimulated Luminescence
Emission near green wavelength of NaYF4 codoped with Yr3+/Er3+, stimulated with a 977-nm CW laser. Image captured in the Nano Optics Laboratory of the Federal University of Pernambuco, Recife, Brazil.
—Dayvid Mello, Federal University of Pernambuco, Recife, Brazil
01 Mar 2024
Illuminated Tissue
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
23 Feb 2024
Dance of Koi and People
“Drawing on the Water Surface Created by the Dance of Koi and People - Infinity,” from the teamLab exhibit in Tokyo, Japan. The koi, rendered by a computer program and projected onto water, interact with viewers and each other.
—Michael Duncan, Optica, Washington, DC, USA
16 Feb 2024
Tea-Glass Optics
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.
—Vahid Abbasian, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, USA
09 Feb 2024
