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Sun Glint, Bane of Scientists, Has a Silver Lining
- dylan604 5y agoFirst year photogrpahy student says it sounds like they need a circular polarizer. Any seasoned fisherman would suggest getting polarized sunglasses. NRO agent says "as if it were that easy."
- tomc1985 5y agoPolarizers were my first thought reading this, but they only work at certain angles.
- sprayk 5y agothe "silver lining" was most of the way through the article: > Sun glint can also reveal an otherwise invisible feature in Earth’s atmosphere: atmospheric gravity waves, which are simply waves of air moving through stable portions of the atmosphere. Triggered by anything from passing over a mountain to a thunderstorm updraft, these bands of air move upward until gravity tugs them back down, over and over again. You can think of them as airy versions of the ripples that result from a stone tossed into a still pond. Over open water, these air waves alter the reflectivity of the surface. In areas where sun glint is present, this creates the illusion of long, large ocean waves. Clouds often form along the crest of the atmospheric gravity waves, enhancing their similarity to surf when imaged by a satellite.
- readflaggedcomm 5y agoCommonly known as "glare" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glare_(vision) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glare_(vision) which strangely is a term missing from the article.
- Stratoscope 5y agoIt's rare that a science article makes me sad, but this one did. Does anyone else out there remember Iridium flares? They were sun glints from the antenna panels on the first generation Iridium satellites. They were quite a sight to see, and especially fun to impress the neighbors: "Watch the sky where I am pointing, right now!" https://catchtheiridium.com/ https://catchtheiridium.com/ https://earthsky.org/space/i-saw-a-flash-in-the-night-sky-what-is-it/ https://earthsky.org/space/i-saw-a-flash-in-the-night-sky-wh...