@optica.org
Optica, Advancing Optics and Photonics Worldwide. 💡⚛️
@optica.org🔭 💡 #Exoplanets can be up to a billion times dimmer than their host star, making them difficult to detect.
To capture images of exoplanets, this design isolates and eliminates light from the star and recomposes the optical field after the light is rejected.
@optica.org⚛️ 🧪 What does the future of space #optics look like?
As the cost of accessing space falls, the optics community has a unique opportunity to innovate with disruptive technologies like computational imaging, advanced laser systems and more.
Read more for #WorldSpaceWeek: https://bit.ly/3U2a3cY
@optica.org🔭 💡 Where did we come from, and where are we going?
From fabrication to final acceptance tests, learn about reflective space optics for the next generation of telescopes across the X-ray to far-infrared spectrum in this #OPG_AOP: https://bit.ly/4rIYtQl
@optica.org🔭 A dying star is throwing a cosmic tantrum in this combined image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope and the Galaxy Evolution Explorer.
In death, the star's dusty outer layers unravel into space, glowing from the intense UV radiation released by the hot stellar core.
—NASA/JPL-Caltech #astrophoto
@optica.orgImage credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Klaus Pontoppidan
@optica.orgThis image from the JWST displays the Rho Ophiuchi cloud complex, the closest star-forming region to Earth.
Jets bursting from young stars crisscross the image, impacting the surrounding interstellar gas and lighting up molecular hydrogen, shown in red.
@optica-opn.orgReposted by @optica.orgImage of the Week: Snowflake in Phase
A melting snowflake is shown as a quantitative phase map in which color encodes the optical path length of light through the crystal, proportional to its thickness.
Read more here: http://bit.ly/3Uj2QCf
@optica.orgReposted by @optica.org💡 ⚛️ Could high-energy lasers remove space debris? https://bit.ly/4ys9mIJ
High-energy lasers have been floated as one possible way to sweep out Earth’s orbital neighborhood, but the effects of lasers on space debris are largely unpredictable.
@optica.orgA new computational model that accounts for individual differences in human color vision can help determine why the colors of today’s displays sometimes appear different from person to person.
Read more: https://bit.ly/4hyWzyw
#Vision 🧪 💡
@optica.org💡 ⚛️ Could high-energy lasers remove space debris? https://bit.ly/4ys9mIJ
High-energy lasers have been floated as one possible way to sweep out Earth’s orbital neighborhood, but the effects of lasers on space debris are largely unpredictable.
@optica.orgCongratulations, Francis Halzen, awarded the 2026 #NobelPrize in Physics for decisive contributions to the IceCube Neutrino Observatory and the discovery of high-energy neutrinos of astrophysical origin!
Learn more about Halzen and the role of #optics in today’s recognition: https://bit.ly/4y4TcnQ
@uofgnews.bsky.socialReposted by @optica.orgAn international team of physicists led by researchers from @uofgphysastro.bsky.social have developed a new method of deducing the precise colour of laser light by using an image that rotates as the laser’s frequency shifts.
Read more here: www.gla.ac.uk/news/headlin...
@physicsworld.bsky.socialReposted by @optica.orgWhile we wait for this year's #NobelPrize in physics, check out our coverage of notable past prizes. This year, we're telling the stories of the first physics Nobel laureates from selected countries. First up: C V Raman, the first Indian physics laureate. physicsworld.com/a/c-v-raman-... 🧪⚛️
@optica.org💡 Optogenetics gives researchers the ability to control selected neural circuits with light, allowing us to trace the neural circuits behind memories, emotions & behaviors.
Read about the 2026 #NobelLaureates in #Medicine, their research & publications with @opg.optica.org: https://bit.ly/4rPvXMX
![[Image credits: Christopher P. Michel; Millencolin, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_fullsize/plain/did:plc:i4rwlszmxz7s3ixyvpovrjsu/bafkreia4ecw77jilr64jc465l4y5m3u4nxceknf5bmwc577egfe7qixqaa@jpeg)
@optica.org💡 🧪 What is #optogenetics?
Starting with the study of an alga, this field supplied a molecular tool for manipulating neurons in mammals, creating new ways to map the brain.
Read about the foundational work of #NobelPrize winners Karl Deisseroth, Peter Hegemann & Georg Nagel: https://bit.ly/4dOsGru
@optica.orgCongratulations Karl Deisseroth, Peter Hegemann and George Nagel, awarded the #NobelPrize in Physiology/#Medicine for their pioneering work in light-gated ion channels and optogenetics.
Their work established the use of light-sensitive proteins to control specific cells' activity with light. 💡🧪
![[Image credit:
Photograph of Karl Deisseroth, Christopher P. Michel
Photographs of Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel: Millencolin, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
A photograph of Georg Nagel: Public Domain]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_fullsize/plain/did:plc:i4rwlszmxz7s3ixyvpovrjsu/bafkreifqmyo24qusxo7b6yax7cib76t55lxe2dmcpjag2hea2adotj7oey@jpeg)
@optica.org🔭 ⚛️ Space presents limitless possibilities for exploration, all of which push the boundaries of optical technology.
Whether it's the development of telescopes or high-power lasers, #optics has revolutionized our understanding of the universe.
Celebrate #WorldSpaceWeek: https://bit.ly/4z8RnXI
@optica.orgWe were happy to have you, thank you for attending! 🙌
@optica.orgWe had a great time at the #Science + Industry Showcase at #FiO26!
Attendees took part in live demos, met @Optica Publishing Group journal editors, networked with #photonics companies and had some fun with the mascot from our friends at @thorlabs.bsky.social !
@optica.org#Coffee is a beverage.
COFFEE is a Bayesian approach-based focal-plane wavefront sensing method that consists of an extension of phase diversity to high-contrast imaging systems.
Read how COFFEE estimates aberrations with nanometric precision: https://bit.ly/3V9nJ6i
