Polarised images of Moon rocks (Adrian, Canterbury)

“Images are of thin sections of rocks collected on the Moon during Apollo missions, and were taken by me in my classroom using a set of samples donated by NASA for use in UK schools and universities. Viewed with polarised light, hence the colours.”

What a kaleidoscopic set of images (and super cool that these are images of actual rock from the Moon!). Polarisers are a type of filter for light (some sunglasses are polarised to reduce glare) – the physics of it is really interesting, and you can learn more here:
https://www.physicsclassroom.com/class/light/Lesson-1/Polarization. The Moon rock shows different colours when seen through polarising filters due to an effect called birefringence – you can learn more about the physics of birefringence + try out your own experiments with sticky tape here: https://www.exploratorium.edu/snacks/polarized-light-mosaic