The image on the left was obtained using a holography technique [Meng & Hussain, Appl. Opt. 34, 1827 (1995)] and display a nonlinear breakdown of a drop into water. The drop, aqueous polystyrene suspension with 90% water and 0.5cm in diameter, falls freely from a distance of 1cm above the water surface. The drop undergoes vortex ring instability that cascade on smaller and smaller scales (droplets, wakelets, ringlets) and yield flow crowns, 3D arcades and chaotic structures.

The image on the right was taken by J. J. Thompson and H. J. Newal (Proc. Roy. Soc. 39 in 1885, showing similar instabilities demonstrated by dye entering water.

References:

Estevadeordal, J., Meng, H., Gogineni, S., Goss, L., and Roquemore, M., "3D Visualization of Vortex-Ring and Bag-Shaped Instabilities Using Holography", Phys. of Fluids (Gallery of Fluid Motion), 9 (9) S5, 1997.

Meng, H., Estevadeordal, J., Gogineni, S., Goss, L., and Roquemore, M, "Holographic Flow Visualization, a Tool for Studying Three Dimensional Coherent Structures and Instabilities", J. of Visualization, 2 (2) 133-144, 1998.