Schlieren photography is a process for photographing fluid flow. Invented by the German physicist August Toepler in 1864 to study supersonic motion, it is widely used in aeronautical engineering to photograph the flow of air around objects.
A schlieren photograph showing the compression in front of an unswept wing at Mach 1.2
Shock waves produced by a T-38 Talon during flight using analog background-oriented schlieren
Colour schlieren image of the thermal plume from a burning candle, disturbed by a breeze from the right
Schlieren image showing the thermal convection plume rising from an ordinary candle in still air. This photograph clearly shows the transition from laminar to turbulent flow.
August Joseph Ignaz Toepler was a German chemist and physicist known for his experiments in electrostatics.
August Toepler's grave at Johannisfriedhof