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Optics is the oldest discipline in physics. While people in antiquity assumed that light in the form of ›visual rays‹ originated in their eyes, we know it better today: light originates in matter and is registered in the eye. It is a wave and a particle at the same time. Nothing moves faster and what we perceive as visible light is only a small part of a broad spectrum. Nevertheless, the ›theory of light‹ is not yet understood in all its aspects. Although humans are not the origin of light, they have opened a chapter of their own in physics with non-linear optics.
Video: Dust particles from the Dragon Palace
The asteroid ›Ryugu‹ (Japanese for ›Dragon Palace‹) has received a visit from Earth: The Japanese probe Hayabusa-2 has collected sample material on the surface of the asteroid, which is about one kilometre in size and orbits the sun between Earth and Mars, and transported it to Earth. The precious cargo landed a few months ago and is currently still being sighted by the Japanese space agency JAXA. In the course of this year, however, some of the dust particles from the "Dragon's Palace" will also reach the University of Jena. Prof. Dr. Falko Langenhorst and Dr. Dennis Harries from the Institute of Geosciences will analyse their composition here. They hope to gain new insights into the beginnings of our solar system.