Page cluster
Why it happens: dispersion
Explore Chromatic Aberration: an interactive 3D scene
Glass slows blue light more than red, so it bends blue more. A prism fans white light into a spectrum. A lens is a prism everywhere except dead center, which is why no single lens focuses every color at once.
Back to start Lateral fringing Longitudinal fringing The fixWhite light in
Spectrum out
violet bends most
red bends least
One beam in, a fan out. Glass bends every wavelength differently, so violet deviates most and red least.