do we actually see the sun before it rises?

Question

is it possible for us to see the sun before it actually rises sue to refraction? so..becoz the air is a denser medium and it keeps getting denser as u enter earth the rays bend inward..therfore viewing the sun before it actually rises..

Answer 1

The sun does not rise. The earth rotatates, and the sun appears to rise and set because we are stationary on a revolving planet. If you go into space, you can see what I mean.

Answer 2

The process of refraction is that in which light rays bend when it enter to a denser medium from a light medium. Here light ray bend towards the normal (earth direction). So we see the sun before it actually rises.
But the description is quite different in relativistic considerations. In general theory of relativity space time trajectory is considered. here gravity has an important role. we see the light from the sun bent because of the gravitational force acting on light. So light bends along the surface (curvature) of the earth.

Answer 3

Well, the light of the sun reaches earth only after 8 minutes. So, it is possible to see the sun before 8 minuites from the light reaching the earth.

Answer 4

good thinking but you forget it takes up to 7 minutes for the light to actually get here from the sun. so by the time you see the light or even the sun, the sun is actually 7 mins higher in the sky then what you presently witness.

so since the sun moves prior to us seeing it, it is impossible to see it prior to rising as it has already risen by the time we see the first speck of light coming over the horizon.

Answer 5

yes we do, it is called dawn., its the light relected on the atmosphere, but we can see the sun much earlier at times of the year.

"False dawn" is an atmospheric anomaly which causes the observer to believe that sunrise is about to peek over the horizon. The False Dawn rises near the equator as suddenly as theatre lights go down. And for a minute you can see the outline and perspective of a gauzy proscenium (like the arch in a theatre). In those latitudes the length of the day never varies more than ten minutes. The light, the refraction of the light of the nascent sun in the atmosphere, rises at 5:40 in the morning. And then, the angle changes and it falls dark again, to rise quickly as the hour of six approaches.

At certain times of year in the right locations, a faint cone of light appears in the predawn sky for lucky viewers in dark locations. This eerie glow is the Zodiacal Light.

It is best seen before daybreak, generally two to three hours before sunrise in the eastern sky. But its also visible in the west at certain times of year.

Over the centuries countless individuals have been fooled into thinking the Zodiacal Light was the first vestige of morning twilight. In fact, the Persian astronomer, mathematician and poet Omar Khayyam, who lived around the turn of the 12th Century, made reference to it as a "false dawn" in his one long poem, The Rubaiyat.

What it is

It was once thought to be solely an atmospheric phenomenon: perhaps reflected sunlight shining on the very high atmosphere of Earth.

We now know, however, that while the phenomenon indeed involves reflected sunlight, it is being reflected not off our atmosphere, but rather off a nonuniform distribution of space debris left over from the formation of the planets some 4.5 billion years ago.

The Zodiacal Light is caused by an enormous cloud of cosmic dust extending outward from the Sun and past the orbit of the Earth. These countless millions of particles -- ranging in size from meter-sized miniasteroids to micron-sized dust grains -- seem densest around the immediate vicinity of the Sun, but extend outward, beyond the orbit of Mars and are spread out along the plane of the ecliptic (the path the Sun follows throughout the year).

Hence the reason for the name "zodiacal" light, is because it is usually seen projected against the zodiacal constellations, which were conjured by astronomers and poets to fit the ecliptic.

When to see it

The best time to see the Zodiacal Light is when the ecliptic appears most nearly vertical to your local horizon.

For those in the Northern Hemisphere, this occurs in the western evening sky after sunset from early February to late March. The best morning view in the eastern sky comes from late September into the early part of November.

Conversely, for those who live in the Southern Hemisphere, the best view in the western evening sky comes after sunset from early August to late September, while the best morning view in the eastern sky comes from late March into the early part of May.

Those who live in the tropics or at the equator are luckiest of all, since it has been said that the Zodiacal Light is bright and very conspicuous from these regions. This is probably because the ecliptic is always favorably oriented there, allowing views of the Zodiacal Light both in the western evening sky and eastern morning sky all year long.

What it looks like

To the discerning eye, its diffuse shape resembles almost a tilted cone, wedge or slanted pyramid. At the base of the cone, the light may extend some 20 to 30 degrees along the horizon (a fist on your outstretched arm covers about 10 degrees of sky).

At its best, the display can approach or even equal the Milky Way in brightness, yet it is typically so faint that even a small amount of atmospheric haze can obscure it. On exceptionally clear nights, the tapering cone might be seen to stretch more than halfway to the zenith, an imaginary point in the sky directly overhead from wherever you are.

Answer 6

On the other hand, we are about 8 light minutes away from the sun, so the sun is already 8 minutes above the horizon before we see the light.

Answer 7

Yes, we actually see the limb of the sun before it technically rises above the horizon due to the atmosphere and light refraction.

Answer 8

Yes ... we actually see the sun before it rises.....
I am fully confident of my answer... because.. the suns rays get curved on the surface of the earth... so that in reality the sun will not in correct viewable position.... but the light coming out of the sun gets bent and we will see the sun...

Answer 9

I think in most places you're below the horizon so what you see isn't the Sun but sunlight.

I'd imagine if you're on top of mount Everst though you'll see the most of what anyone can possibly see although that might be the sunlight also and not the Sun itself. Never been there though!!

Answer 10

Time elapse before the sun light reach us. To be more exact the sun light reachs us after 8 minute. Since light doesn't travel infinitely .