paigetheoracle Posted March 19, 2010 Report Posted March 19, 2010 Why does light coming from above the line of sight hurt my eyes, whereas viewing it at horizontal level directly, doesn't? Quote
modest Posted March 19, 2010 Report Posted March 19, 2010 Bright light hurts eyes. The setting or rising sun is less bright because the light has more atmosphere to traverse on its way to your eyes, and the atmosphere absorbs and scatters some of the light. When the sun is directly above it is most bright because there's only 'bout ~15 km of atmosphere filtering the light. This is also, by the way, why the sun is red when on the horizon. The atmosphere scatters blue light... which is also why the sky looks blue... ~modest Quote
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