Researchers at Ohio State University have used a new ultrafast camera to capture the first ever image of two atoms vibrating inside a molecule.

By blasting a molecule with very precise laser light pulses, the researchers were able to knock a single electron out of the molecule’s outer shell and detect its signal as it re-collided with the molecule. The atoms in the molecule move around in the brief interim between the electron leaving and returning to the molecule, and the new camera can detect and visualise this movement.