Snell's Window - interesting optical phenomenon demonstrated

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DQE
Posts: 1653
Joined: Tue Jul 08, 2008 1:33 pm
Location: near Portland, Maine, USA

Snell's Window - interesting optical phenomenon demonstrated

Post by DQE »

I found this web article and its photographic example to be interesting and educational about an interesting optical phenomenon.

http://epod.usra.edu/blog/2014/06/snells-window.html

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Excerpt:

Looking up from underwater, one sees the whole sky. But it doesn’t stretch 180 degrees from horizon to horizon like it does above water. Instead it's compressed into a circle about 97 degrees across, regardless of the observer’s depth. This occurs because light rays bend when entering or exiting water. The shrunken sky seen by submerged observers is called Snell’s Window, informally named for Willebrord Snellius, a Dutch astronomer and mathematician. It's also called the optical manhole.
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Are there any macro or micro photographic applications that make use of or demonstrate Snell's Window?
-Phil

"Diffraction never sleeps"

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