February 11, 2026
Beam me up, comment section
Everything you need to know about lasers in one photo
The internet loves the laser rainbow—but wants the how‑to and a diode chart
TLDR: A single image maps what colors and strengths today’s lasers can produce, from steady beams to quick pulses. Commenters gush over the laser rainbow, complain it doesn’t teach how to build one, and beg for a diode-only chart—proof that people want both eye candy and practical guidance.
One image to rule the beams: a colorful chart mapping where commercially available lasers shine, how strong they are, and whether they fire continuously or in pulses. Above the rainbow are single-color types, below are tunable ranges; solid lines mean steady beams, dotted means bursts. The scale even squeezes the invisible infrared so the visible rainbow pops.
But the real show is in the comments. voidUpdate side-eyes the headline: "This one photo doesn’t include how to actually make a laser?" Translation: cool pic, where’s the DIY. relaxing makes a wishlist for a follow-up: a power-vs-color chart just for solid-state diodes, the tiny chips in many gadgets. Meanwhile danw1979 supplies the meme energy: "Pretty sure I went to a rave once where they used all of these," turning physics into festival.
Link-droppers like r-johnv keep it academic with a tidy Wikipedia list, while others debate what "everything you need to know" really means. Is a map of colors and power enough, or do people want a recipe book? The vibe: awe at the tidy "laser rainbow," impatience for practical how-tos, and humor from folks who’ve clearly spent time under nightclub fog machines. Science art meets comment-section chaos—and it’s glorious.
Key Points
- •Graphic maps wavelengths of commercially available lasers, separating discrete lines (above) and tunable ranges (below).
- •Solid lines/areas indicate continuous-wave emission; dotted lines indicate pulsed emission.
- •Line height conveys maximum commercially available power or pulse energy; for quasi-CW lasers, line length indicates mean power.
- •Wavelength axis is linear up to 1000 nm, then logarithmic (300 px/decade to 10 µm, then 30 px/decade) to emphasize the visible region.
- •Data mainly from Weber’s Handbook of Laser Wavelengths with updates (notably for semiconductors); file licensed under GFDL 1.2+ with attribution and share-alike terms.