Hey there, for months I am trying to wrap my head around how eyes really work. My eye has a retina that receives photons that trigger my nerves to create a certain color for that location. Why do photons from different angle not seem to alter the image that I am seeing?
For example, if I look at an infinitely large white wall with a small red square in front of me, photons from the red square would “tell” my eye that the square is red at that location, but shouldn’t other photons bouncing off the white part of the wall hitting the same retina cells provide the information that the color is “white”? It looks like my eye is able to only process photos that come straight at it. Is that correct and how is that?
I hope this question makes sense.
Thanks a lot.
In: 3
You’re missing an important part of your eye description: there are lenses inside your eyes that focus light.
If your eye had no lenses, you’d feel the effect you’re describing — like some animals that can perceive directions to a light source but cannot make out detail. Alternatively, bad eyesight produces some of that same effect.
Because your eye has a lens on it, the cornea, that lens captures the light entering your eye, and then properly distributes it’s across the retina.
So light entering your eye from the sides gets sent to the edges of your retina, which is your peripheral vision, and light coming straight from the front gets sent straight to the back of your retina.
You’re missing an important part of your eye description: there are lenses inside your eyes that focus light.
If your eye had no lenses, you’d feel the effect you’re describing — like some animals that can perceive directions to a light source but cannot make out detail. Alternatively, bad eyesight produces some of that same effect.
Because your eye has a lens on it, the cornea, that lens captures the light entering your eye, and then properly distributes it’s across the retina.
So light entering your eye from the sides gets sent to the edges of your retina, which is your peripheral vision, and light coming straight from the front gets sent straight to the back of your retina.
You’re missing an important part of your eye description: there are lenses inside your eyes that focus light.
If your eye had no lenses, you’d feel the effect you’re describing — like some animals that can perceive directions to a light source but cannot make out detail. Alternatively, bad eyesight produces some of that same effect.
Because your eye has a lens on it, the cornea, that lens captures the light entering your eye, and then properly distributes it’s across the retina.
So light entering your eye from the sides gets sent to the edges of your retina, which is your peripheral vision, and light coming straight from the front gets sent straight to the back of your retina.
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