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Illusions
I can across an article in Astonomy Magazine about illusions that exisist in our Universe. One part of the aticle grabbed my attention.
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Cosmic Phantoms By:Bob Berman
While we’re on the subject, let’s revisit the “not really there” item that generated the most mail a few years ago: rainbows. In my October 2009 column, I said that because they are not actual objects, rainbows cannot cast shadows or have reflections. Rather, a rainbow is a specific beam of rays aimed at your eyes alone. When no one’s watching, they do not exist.
This colorful phenomenon has only been around for the last 1 percent of Earth’s history. They first came into existence when animals developed color vision. For we do not perceive colors that are already “out there” — there are no colors “out there.” Instead, we personally create them in response to invisible magnetic/electrical stimulations. As Roy Bishop says in the superb Observer’s Handbook from the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, rainbows occur entirely “within our skull.”
The “no reflection” business bothers some people. Yet it’s true: If you see a rainbow, you can’t also see its reflection, even if a pond or mirror is correctly positioned. Any seeming reflection will be that of an entirely different rainbow, and may have dissimilar properties such as less blue or greater vividness. So while we can all see the same tree or traffic light, and view it from various angles, here there are no other possible viewpoints or angles because it’s not a real object.
One quick proof is that in nature, only a sphere always appears round from every viewing angle. A rainbow is not a sphere. Yet it does indeed look perfectly round no matter what. The solution to this paradox is that it cannot be real
http://astronomy.com/en/Columnists/Bob Berman/2012/01/Cosmic phantoms.aspx
You might not be able to access it because I have a subscription to it and gain login access.
I thought this was a cool subject and wanted to throw it on the boards. Makes you think about what else is just an illusion that is governed by our perceptions. . .
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cosmic Phantoms By:Bob Berman
While we’re on the subject, let’s revisit the “not really there” item that generated the most mail a few years ago: rainbows. In my October 2009 column, I said that because they are not actual objects, rainbows cannot cast shadows or have reflections. Rather, a rainbow is a specific beam of rays aimed at your eyes alone. When no one’s watching, they do not exist.
This colorful phenomenon has only been around for the last 1 percent of Earth’s history. They first came into existence when animals developed color vision. For we do not perceive colors that are already “out there” — there are no colors “out there.” Instead, we personally create them in response to invisible magnetic/electrical stimulations. As Roy Bishop says in the superb Observer’s Handbook from the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, rainbows occur entirely “within our skull.”
The “no reflection” business bothers some people. Yet it’s true: If you see a rainbow, you can’t also see its reflection, even if a pond or mirror is correctly positioned. Any seeming reflection will be that of an entirely different rainbow, and may have dissimilar properties such as less blue or greater vividness. So while we can all see the same tree or traffic light, and view it from various angles, here there are no other possible viewpoints or angles because it’s not a real object.
One quick proof is that in nature, only a sphere always appears round from every viewing angle. A rainbow is not a sphere. Yet it does indeed look perfectly round no matter what. The solution to this paradox is that it cannot be real
http://astronomy.com/en/Columnists/Bob Berman/2012/01/Cosmic phantoms.aspx
You might not be able to access it because I have a subscription to it and gain login access.
I thought this was a cool subject and wanted to throw it on the boards. Makes you think about what else is just an illusion that is governed by our perceptions. . .
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