Question

What is atmospheric refraction

Answer 1

When the light rays pass through the atmosphere having layers of different densities and refractive indices, then refraction of light takes place. This refraction of light by the earth’s atmosphere is called “atmospheric refraction”.

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Answer 2

The atmosphere of Earth is not evenly distributed, it is optically and molecularly denser at the bottom and and becomes rarer as we up, so the velocity of light changes from layer to layer. The molecules of different gases and dust partcles have different optical densities , moreover the hot air is optically rarer than cold air. These factors form differnt layers of air with different optical densities and thus cause the atmospheric refration.