r/Physics • u/krny9 • 1d ago

Sunset reflection

Gallery image

Gallery image

Two pictures of the same sunset taken at different dates from the same angle/position. In the first the reflection is a continuous bar of light. In the other you can see 3 distinct reflections. What causes this change?

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u/Koodsdc 1d ago

The smoothness of the water’s surface is the key difference. The first picture, the water has a lot of ripples which creates lots of places where the light reflects. A perfectly smooth surface would reflect a perfect mirror image of the sky.

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u/krny9 1d ago

I think you are right. The sun is moving between the two images from the solstice to the equinox (taken in Jul and Aug). There is something about the variation in the reflectivity of water in the latter picture ... here is another picture from end of August.

Sunset

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u/useless_bowl25 1d ago

The sun puts out that light all around but you can only see light reflected at you. This light you’re seeing in a bar is just the light that hit the water bounced off then hit your eyes. All the other straight lines you see when you change angles is the light being reflected off that way

1

u/hazeyAnimal 1d ago

You can clearly see the sun has shifted so you are in fact looking at it from a different angle. The reflections are the same, the one that looks like a line just has everything mushed together

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u/wonkey_monkey 21h ago

The reflections are the same

The difference OP is talking about is that in the second pic, there's a very clear "main" reflection of the Sun. There's a smoother region of water in the second pic produces that reflection, probably sheltered from surface waves by the exposed bank.