The Harrier is a massive Rolls Royce "Pegasus" turbofan engine with wings. Although not supersonic, the has almost 24k lbs of thrust to play with even though it has no afterburner. This makes it very well suited for hauling ass down low, below radar and close to the targets it was built to destroy. In doing so some crazy visual phenomena can occur.

In this picture, taken by fellow aviation photog Alan Kenny (make sure to take a look at all his workand subscribe to his aviation facebook page ), an AV-8B Night Attack Harrier belonging to test and evaluation squadron VX-31 "Dust Devils" out of NAWS China Lake, performs a knife edge transit through , otherwise known as the "Jedi Transition."

It goes by Rainbow or Star Wars Canyon, but it's officially known by those who blast through it as…

You can actually see light being bent by the turbulent airflow caused by the engines massive suction on the outside edges of the intakes. What is even more incredible, is that you can see the air being stacked up in frequency-like layers, almost like liquid, in front of the engine's huge first-stage fan face.

The is literally trying to gulp more air than it can consume.

This gorgeous shot depicts nighttime AV-8B Harrier operations aboard the USS Essex LHD-2 while the…