Does anyone else see a small blue light by the headlights on cars? I was certain it was a false image from my eyeglasses. But, I have heard others discussing this. I am not sure if they wear glasses or not. Is this real or an aberration of light? If it is a real thing, why is it there?
It’s chromatic aberration in the lens of the healdlight.
You won’t see it in reflector headlights, only those new-fangled ones with a focusing lens.
Thanks! That’s exactly what I needed to know!
Chromatic aberration is also quite noticeable with strong eyeglass prescriptions, or even some weaker prescriptions depending on the lens material.
It’s also more noticeable with LED lights, which use a mix of blue and yellow/red phosphors. When those are separated by chromatic aberration, you can observe very distinctly separated images of the light in each color.
With an incandescent light source emitting light across the spectrum, chromatic aberration tends to produce a much more subtle blurring with a hint of a rainbow around the edges.