Light in the Universe

How things appear to us depends on what happens to light before it reaches our eyes. The universe is a colourful place due to the different properties of light that are at play.

Now that you’ve reviewed some of the properties of light, see if you can identify different scenarios where they play out in the video above. We’d like you to focus on these 4 properties of light, but you might spot some others too:

1. Dispersion – light is spread or split out.
2. Reflection – light bounces off a surface
3. Emission – light given out by an object
4. Absorption – light is taken in and not reflected, or transmitted back out.

Can you find an example of these 4 properties of light in action, whilst watching the video ‘What makes the Universe Colourful?’