240 million years ago, pressure waves emanated from a black hole inside the Perseus Galaxy Cluster. Much later, NASA’s Chandra X-Ray Observatory intercepted those waves. Scientists raised the frequency of the signal until it fell within the range of human hearing. And then photographer John White played that sound through a petri dish of water sitting on a speaker. The result is above: a watery glimpse of a long ago black hole’s signature. Within these Faraday waves is the echo of a stellar phenomenon that took place when the very first dinosaurs walked our planet. (Image credit: J. White; via the 2023 Astronomy POTY)
Category: Art
Vivid Auroras Over Iceland
When solar storms in late February sent energetic particles toward Earth, photographer Cari Letelier ventured to the remote northern edge of Iceland to capture the resulting auroras. When fast-moving, high-energy particles from the solar wind meet Earth’s magnetosphere, they’re directed toward the poles. There the particles slam into Earth’s upper atmosphere, exciting atoms that glow in greens, reds, and pinks. Curtains of light dance across the sky as a result. February’s show was particularly stunning, as captured by Letelier at Arctic Henge. (Image credit: C. Letelier; via Colossal)
“Aquakosmos”
Colorful chandeliers, passing spirits, sprouting mushrooms, and fountains of falling ink appear in Christopher Dormoy’s “Aquakosmos.” Driven by the slight density difference between ink and water, many of these elaborate shapes result from the Rayleigh-Taylor instability. Anytime you see mushroom-like plumes and chandelier-like splitting vortex rings, there’s probably a Rayleigh-Taylor instability behind it. Check out the full video above, and, if you want to give this kind of flow visualization a try yourself, a glass of water and vial of food coloring is a great place to start. (Video and image credit: C. Dormoy)
Diving From Above
Blue-footed boobies, like many other seabirds, climb to a particular altitude before folding their wings and diving head-first into the water. This acrobatic feat balances the bird’s force of impact and the depth it can reach to ensnare fish swimming there. It’s an incredible process to watch, a fascinating one to study, and, here, a beautiful glimpse of the natural world from a perspective we don’t typically see. (Image credit: H. Spiers, Bird POTY; via Colossal)
“Black Ice”
Ice, black ink, and flowers combine in filmmaker Christopher Dormoy’s “Black Ice.” Filmed during the COVID-19 lockdowns, the video is an exploration of the creativity one can achieve when constrained. I especially enjoy seeing the tiny bubbles trapped in the ice escape as ink billows past, and the views of ice tunnels invaded by ink are incredibly cool. For a behind-the-scenes look at how Dormoy achieved many of the shots, see this video. (Video and image credit: C. Dormoy)
“Emerald and Stone”
“Emerald and Stone” is filmmaker Thomas Blanchard’s tribute to the music of Brian Eno. The short film is made, as Blanchard puts it, with “inks and painting,” but I suspect there’s some oil in there, too, to coat the droplets we see. Much of the movement is likely driven by surface tension variations in the background fluid. I love the effect this has on the droplets. If you watch closely, some of them appear to rotate like a miniature planet; others have counter-rotating sections within the drop. The difference, I suspect, is one of scale: I think the smaller drops rotate altogether while larger ones develop more complex internal flows. (Video and image credit: T. Blanchard)
“Vorticity 5”
Photographer and stormchaser extraordinaire Mike Olbinski is back with the fifth volume in his “Vorticity” series. Shot over the 2022 and 2023 tornado seasons in the U.S. Central Plains, this edition has virtually everything: supercells, microbursts, lightning, tornadoes, and haboobs. There’s towering convection and churning, swirling turbulence. It’s a spectacular look at the power and grandeur of our atmosphere. (Video and image credit: M. Olbinski)
Antarctic Icebergs
Antarctica is nearly fully covered in ice and doubles in surface area each winter as the surrounding sea freezes. So it’s an especially spectacular place for viewing icebergs, like these photographed by Jan Erik Waider. The ice comes in many shapes — some clearly fractured and some sculpted by wind and water. The colors, too, are striking. Even in overcast conditions, the blues of the ice seem almost to glow from within. (Image credit: J. Waider; via Colossal)
Fresh Fissures
North of Iceland’s Fagradalsfjall, a new volcanic fissure opened in July 2023. This drone footage from Isak Finnbogason captures that fissure on its first night. Lava fountains jet from the earth, forming a complex, slow-moving river. The similarities between flowing lava and more common liquids like water never ceases to fascinate me. Even with the vast differences in temperature and viscosity, so much of their physics remains recognizably the same. (Image and video credit: I. Finnbogason; via Colossal)
“Discovery”
Colors stream and mix in Rus Khasanov’s short film “Discovery.” Droplet-like liquid lenses float in the mixture until ethanol or other ingredients cause them to spontaneously rupture, sending their interior flowing outward until the lens reaches a new equilibrium. Gradients in surface tension guide Marangoni flows across the screen. There’s never-ending beauty in the world of macro fluids. (Video and image credit: R. Khasanov)
