Nearby objects such as trees appear to be reflected in that water.Ī second type of mirage -the superior mirage -forms when a layer of air next to the ground is much cooler than the air above it. As a result, light from the sky appears just below the horizon, like a body of shimmering water. Light rays passing through the two layers are refracted. One type of mirage -the inferior mirage -forms when a layer of air close to the ground is heated more strongly than the air immediately above it. Mirages occur when light passes through air layers of different temperatures. Mirages are one of the most familiar optical effects produced by refraction. Wavelength: The distance between two troughs or two peaks in any wave. Spectrum: The band of colors that is formed when white light passes through a prism or is broken apart by some other means. Scattering: The bending of light rays as they bounce off very small objects. Refraction: The bending of light rays as they pass at an angle from one transparent or clear medium into a second one of different density. Reflection: The bouncing of light rays in a regular pattern off the surface of an object. Words to Knowĭiffraction: The bending of light or another form of electromagnetic radiation as it passes through a tiny hole or around a sharp edge.ĭispersion: The separation of light into its separate colors.
A rainbow is produced as the net result of this sequence of events repeated over and over when the atmosphere is filled with billions of tiny raindrops (such as after a storm).
This second refraction causes the different bands of colors to become more distinct. As the colors pass out of the raindrop into the air, they are refracted a second time.
Light phenomena insky full#
The full spectrum of colors is then reflected (bounced) off the back of the raindrop into the air. Since the colors of the spectrum are all bent at different angles, this refraction causes the colors to disperse or separate, as in a prism. When sunlight enters a raindrop, it is refracted or bent. Rainbows are among the most remarkable effects in the atmosphere. When sunlight enters the atmosphere, materials present there break up sunlight into its component colors through reflection (bouncing off an object), refraction (bending through an object), or diffraction (bending around the edge of an object). These colors travel at different wavelengths, decreasing in length from red (the longest) to violet (the shortest). Sunlight or white light comprises all the colors of the visible spectrum: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. These visual events in the sky occur when light bounces off or is bent by solid particles, liquids droplets, and other materials present in the atmosphere. Rainbows, mirages, auroras, the twinkling of stars, and even the blue color of the sky are all considered atmospheric optical effects.
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