How come we can see a source of light extremely far away when the source only illuminates the area much closer to it?

1.73K views

For example, I’m sitting on my front porch which overlooks the town. Miles away I can see streetlights, signs, etc. How does the source project light to my location, yet doesn’t illuminate my location?

Holy moly friends, thanks for the awards and stuff. I didn’t think this question would spark so much interest, lol. I am thoroughly grateful for all your replies.

In: Physics

22 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

Imagine a circle, and a 100 lines protruding from the surface, all equally spaced.

Anytime one of those lines hits an object, the object lights up, proportional to the number of lines hitting it.

On your porch, you can sort of visualize a bunch of lines hitting the porch.

If you’re a mile away, you might be lucky if one of those lines hits your face. That one line, is going directly into your eye, and your eye can pick it up, as it’s specifically designed to pick up light.

You are viewing 1 out of 22 answers, click here to view all answers.