Photos

Fun optics-related photos.

Hold up a labeless CD to the light to see a ring of rainbow colors.

3 tilted mirrors glued to computer fans in a corner cube makes beautiful spirograph patterns that change over time. See MAKE.com for details.

Coat a piece of glass in Rain-X and spray water on top to create a lenslet array.

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Looking at a flashlight through a 2D diffraction grating.

Looking at a toy car through the bottom of a glass. Each gives a new perspective view.

Caustics are awesome! This is the beautiful pattern  of light created by a glass of water in front of a projector beam. Notice the beautiful rainbows!

I didn’t take this picture, its from here. It was taken simply with an iPhone camera, which line scans images at a speed comparable to the propeller speed, causing ALIASING.

Those aren’t my house keys!! They’re holograms (made by J. Lee).

Diffraction of light is a lot like the wake of water behind a moving boat.

I also didn’t take this picture, but it’s also awesome. These are the paths of an airplane wing lights as it takes off.