Well, it’s not actual “sight” - the images aren’t being generated by the absorption or reflection of electromagnetic radiation (visible light rays), but rather are color-coded representations of the strength of the interaction of the probe (the CO “record needle”) and the atoms in the molecule that’s getting probed.
If the CO probe is close to a carbon atom, the resulting signal is presented as one shade of color; if it’s further away and there’s a weaker interaction, by a different color or shade. The full collection of those signal interpretations is the picture that’s shown in the article.
cool.
Is that a description of what a scanning electron microscope does? or have they moved on from those?