The Optics of a Prayer
Lamija Vojić
Award: Top 100
School: ju gimnazija "bihać"
Teacher: sanja mihić
Category: Natural
Photo #21491
The Optics of a Prayer
Recently, I had the opportunity to visit the Cologne Cathedral, where I captured a photo of candles lit by dozens of devoted believers.
When I later looked more carefully at the image, I noticed streaks of light extending from each flame. Since we are currently studying optics in school, I immediately realized that this was not just a camera imperfection, but an example of physics appearing in everyday life.
The glowing rays visible in the photograph are mainly caused by a phenomenon known as diffraction. Diffraction occurs when light waves encounter very small obstacles or edges comparable to their wavelength. Instead of traveling only in straight lines, the waves spread out and bend slightly around these obstacles, producing visible patterns of light.
In this case, microscopic dust particles, tiny scratches, or small structures inside the camera lens scattered the intense candlelight as it entered the camera. The light waves then interfered with one another, creating the radiant "starburst" effect surrounding each flame. The strong contrast between the bright candles and the dark interior of the cathedral made these patterns even more noticeable. In addition, the camera used a longer exposure because of the low-light conditions, which intensified the glowing effect.
|
