Verified Solution Science The Human Eye and the Colourful World

Explain why we see the Sun two minutes before the actual sunrise and two minutes after the actual sunset.

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Answer

This phenomenon is caused by atmospheric refraction. As the Sun is just below the horizon, the light rays from the Sun travel through denser layers of the atmosphere, bending downwards towards the observer. This refraction makes the Sun appear higher in the sky than its actual position, causing it to be visible approximately two minutes earlier at sunrise and two minutes later at sunset.

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