Explanation:
Scientific images of cosmic dust
clouds or even frozen water can be esthetic too.
In fact, this picture of thin layers of forming
ice crystals
uses a scientific understanding of
light's wave properties
solely for artistic purposes.
Titled "Illume",
the
picture was created by astrophysicist Peter Wasilewski.
To make the picture, the crystals were illuminated by light
shining through a polarizing filter -- a filter that
restricts the otherwise randomly oriented light waves
to vibrate in only one direction.
While
passing through the ice, different colors of
the
polarized light are then refracted and
reflected along slightly different paths by the delicate
crystalline layers.
Viewing the scene
with a second polarizing filter brings
out the wondrous display of structure and color.
Painting with "light, the
laws of physics,
and an attitude" Wasilewski
has
created a series of these evocative ice images that
he refers to as Frozen Vision or
Frizion.
