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

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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

I think the answer is how light and other signals use the inverse square law. the light intensity. Meaning the light density is spread out over an area that is increasing in proportion to the square of the distance from the source. Hence, the intensity of radiation passing through any unit area (directly facing the point source) is inversely proportional to the square of the distance from the point source

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