What happens to this soccer ball?

This image is a real photograph, without any tricks. In the photo we see a soccer ball surrounded by green luminous trails, which behave like a flow of water that, when it meets a rock in a river, divides into flows that surround the rock and reunify after leaving it behind.

What happens to the ball? Are you being teleported to an alien ship? Does a ghost want to shoot it?

The explanation is much less spectacular than those, but it is also striking.

This ball was subjected to aerodynamic tests in a NASA wind tunnel in 2014, the US government agency dedicated to astronautics and aeronautics. The tests were carried out by Rabi Mehta’s team.

Glowing contrails are smoke illuminated by laser beams and used to help see the airflow moving around the ball.

The ball studied is of the model nicknamed Brazuca, which was introduced in that year and was the official ball of the FIFA World Cup, which was held in Brazil. The development of the new ball was carried out by the well-known sports equipment company Adidas.

(Photo: NASA’s Ames Research Center)

Aerodynamics can be almost as critical for a professional soccer ball as it is for an aircraft. (Fountain: NCYT by Amazings)