As sunlight enters the Earth's atmosphere, it passes through layers of air with varying densities. This causes the light rays to bend, or refract. Near the horizon, where sunlight travels through a larger amount of atmosphere, this refraction is significant. The atmosphere bends the light rays downwards, towards the Earth's surface. This bending makes the Sun appear higher in the sky than its actual position. As a result, we see the Sun before it has actually risen above the horizon (advanced sunrise) and after it has actually set below the horizon (delayed sunset).
Advanced sunrise and delayed sun-set found in the sky are due to the phenomenon of
Asked in UPSC CAPF 2013 · Topic: Optics (Reflection and Refraction at plane and spherical surfaces)
More Physics questions
- Match List I with List II and select the correct answer using the code given below the Lists : List I List II (Explanation) (Term) 1. Fluores‐
- Which one of the following is NOT a luminous object ?
- The following figure shows the image of a clock in a plane mirror : [Image of a clock face with hands] Which one of the following is the correct time?
- The minimum length of a plane mirror to see your full length image is
- Stars twinkle in the sky at night because
- An object is kept at infinity from the position of a concave (spherical) mirror. Which one is *not* true about the image of the object?
- Which one among the following is a non- luminous object ?
- What is the time difference between the actual sunset and apparent sunset ?