The sodium atoms then re-emit the laser light, producing a glowing artificial star.

The Moon has been shown to have a "tail" of sodium atoms too faint to be detected by the human eye.

Consider the level 2p of a sodium atom, in which there are six indiscernible electrons.

This implies that the sodium atoms are driven away from the comet's head by radiation pressure.

The essay then narrows in on the original picture, with graphics that show ever smaller areas until the nucleus of a sodium atom is reached.

The laser has a wavelength tuned to excite the sodium atoms and force them to emit characteristic yellow light.

To the scientists' surprise, this produced the electronic image of a third cometary tail - one made of sodium atoms.

This sodium atom could be stopped in space in just a matter of 0.1 milliseconds.

Four sodium atoms are required to fully reduce each ester to alcohols.

The potassium atoms switched places with the sodium atoms at the surface, making the glass stronger.