Seeing in the Dark
Infrared photography

Octopus activities at night

Octopus Research Station at the Ocean Institute. The movies in the image above were taken at this station.
Images from the Ocean Institute
All that you can do at OI


Scientists try to observe wildlife in as natural a way as possible. After all we want to see what the animal does under normal circumstances, not what it does when it sees us -- like running away or trying to scare us away. It is important that the research not change any of the behaviors that a researcher wishes to observe. That means that lights are not a good option--not at night, under rocks, or in a cave.

In their bag of tricks, scientists have a method called infrared (IR) imaging that allows us to see in the dark. Living things emit infrared radiation so cameras that are sensitive to IR can see living things in the dark. The warmer an object, the more IR it emits. You may have seen people through IR sensitve night vision goggles.

To think about:
Just what is "heat"?


Very specialized and expensive cameras can "see" the heat that living organisms produce (infrared radiation) and provide enough resolution so that we can see in the dark.

A much less expensive infrared camera uses special IR emitters that "shine" harmless infrared radiation on plants and animals of interest. The camera can then "see" radiation that is reflected back. This is the type of camera that many scientists use, together with time-lapse technologies to watch an area for long periods of time.

At the Ocean Institute
Students and visitors at the Ocean Institute recently used infrared cameras to observe octopus behaviors without disturbing her as she cared for her eggs.




Where to find more information:

Nature: The Octopus Show
Learn more about the activities of the wily octopus. Why is his neighbor the crab missing the next day?
KPBS

Electromagnetic Spectrum
Infrared radiation (IR) is just one kind of radiation in a whole spectrum of types. IR, visible light. microwaves and more are all types of electromagnetic radiation. Unlike earthquake or sound waves, electromagnetic radiation moves at the speed of light and can move across the near-emptiness of outer space.
Goddard Space Flight Center, NASA

Electromagnetic Spectrum
Infrared radiation (IR) is just one kind of radiation in a whole spectrum of types. IR, visible light. microwaves and more are all types of electromagnetic radiation. Unlike earthquake or sound waves, electromagnetic radiation moves at the speed of light and can move across the near-emptiness of outer space.
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Night Vision
How do night vision goggles work?
U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command

Animation: Infrared Satellite Images
Call up your own animation of the latest infrared satellite image of the western U.S. Infrared images of the Earth provide information about clouds, even at night.
San Francisco State University





Produced in collaboration with Scripps Institution of Oceanography.
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© 2003-2004 by the Ocean Institute
and the Regents of the University of California.
All rights reserved.
Last modifed Monday, December 10, 2004