light
Latest about light
![Multicolor auroras shining in the sky above a lake](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/7dZ2Rf55VkmbgQPUEjDyFS-320-80.jpg)
Solar storm causes 'impossible,' pumpkin-colored auroras to fill the sky
By Harry Baker published
A striking new image shows bright orange auroras dancing in the night sky above Canada. But auroras should never be this color, so what's going on?
![Largest gravitational wave observatory squeezes light beyond quantum limit.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/indMnRBNfStWFBxuabaBRa-320-80.jpg)
World's largest gravitational wave observatory squeezes light beyond the 'quantum limit'
By Ben Turner published
Researchers at the LIGO gravitational wave observatory used a new technique called frequency-dependent squeezing to boost weak signals above quantum noise.
![In the field of one of JWST's largest-area surveys, COSMOS-Web, an Einstein ring was discovered around a compact, distant galaxy. It turns out to be the most distant gravitational lens ever discovered by a few billion light-years.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/9MC6YXtCvmZANvLZYgdRxK-320-80.jpg)
Stunningly perfect 'Einstein ring' snapped by James Webb telescope is most distant gravitationally lensed object ever seen
By Harry Baker published
The James Webb Space Telescope has snapped a stunning image of a perfectly formed Einstein ring, which is also the most distant gravitationally lensed object ever detected.
![A large red streak shines across the night sky](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/opaVZkhyzb7Y2KdjZaDhTm-320-80.jpg)
Night sky 'bleeds' over Arizona after SpaceX rocket punches a hole in the atmosphere. Here's why.
By Harry Baker published
The recent launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in California created a gap in Earth's ionosphere, which resulted in a blood-red glow across the sky visible for hundreds of miles.
![The setting sun looks like it is melting as it sets beneath the horizon](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/52NBuPfKq7tXR5RLPWgWr6-320-80.jpg)
Rising and setting 'Omega sun' melts into a 'lava-like blob' in trippy mirage photos
By Harry Baker published
In back to back days, the sun appeared to melt into the horizon due to a trippy optical illusion called the "Omega sun."
![A robotic rover sits in the foreground on a rocky gray terrain with a half yellow and half blue sky in the background](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/7hf9o9iUr8Tymo875ir2AM-320-80.jpg)
NASA's Curiosity rover snaps extremely detailed 'postcard' of Martian landscape after waking up from a 'brain-boosting nap'
By Harry Baker published
The new panorama snapped by NASA's Curiosity rover combines photos from two different times of day to create a highly detailed image of the Red Planet.
![Image of disk-galaxy Andromeda taken by Hubble space telescope](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/V4WbF5byP7ophMJNLVwMPG-320-80.jpg)
What is a light-year?
By Jesse Emspak last updated
A light-year is a measure of the distance it takes light to travel through interstellar space over the course of a year.
![A blue sky with the sun surrounded by a white circle bisected with a white line and two bright spots either side of the circle.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/xVU5Sqy5aYX5iVM5jrHhEk-320-80.jpg)
Ethereal 'halo' and light arcs around the sun captured in photos of ultra-rare phenomena
By Harry Baker published
At least three separate optical phenomena are visible in the new images. Each of which is created by light refracting through millions of perfectly aligned ice crystals in the upper atmosphere.
![Rainbow rings surround the sun, which is half obscured by a pine tree](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/KQrYKF2tJBZxDK8yDdiFwV-320-80.jpg)
Shining rainbow rings around the sun photographed in Finland. What caused them?
By Harry Baker published
The extremely rare kaleidoscopic circles have a surprising Earth-based origin.
![A photograph of one of the moray eel specimens whose left eye is overgrown with skin.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/YzZctToJSk2CfcxxcnqPBQ-320-80.jpg)
Why are cave-dwelling eels growing skin over their left eyes? It may be evolution in action.
By Sascha Pare published
These "greedy" eels likely retreated into the gloomy depths of underwater caves in search of tasty crustaceans and are adapting to the darkness by going blind, one eye at a time.
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