For Spring Break I travelled with a few of my friends to the happiest place on earth where the days were beautiful and sunny and the nights were clear and mild. On Wednesday night we travelled to Epcot and stayed late enough to see the IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth fireworks show. For those of you who have not had the pleasure of visiting Epcot, the park is a circle comprised of different countries and in the center is a huge lake. This is where IllumiNations is held and throngs of people crowd around the “world” to watch the magic begin over the water. The sun was finally setting and the last rays of light danced across the water. I’ve seen a number of sunsets before but this was the first time I was able to break down what was really happening with the light, the way it traveled through my eye and how I was still able to see the light show in the dark.

Let’s begin with the sunset and how the light from the sun traveled into my eye. Here’s a picture of what it looked like:

We learned in class that when the sunlight is traveling through the atmosphere some rays are absorbed by particles while others are scattered in different directions. Next, the light that has made it through the atmosphere will either be absorbed or reflected when it hits the surface of an object. I had time before the sun went down to snap a picture of Rafiki and Simba to show you what I mean. The colors that you see have been reflected while the colors you don’t see have been absorbed. For example, let’s take a closer look at Rafiki’s light blue cheeks. We see light blue because that color blue on the electromagnetic spectrum has been reflected into our eye while the other wavelengths like red, yellow, green, etc. have been absorbed.

The light that is reflected from Rafiki’s light blue cheeks first makes contact with the cornea of our eye. The cornea is a clear surface at the front of the eye so most of the light is transmitted through it into the eye. The cornea is the primary refractive surface of the eye and has 80% of the focusing power, which means the cornea is able to bend the light in such a way that the picture becomes a clear image on the retina. Once the light reaches the retina it will strike photoreceptors, which will basically absorb the light, which leads neurons in the retina to fire action potentials all the way up to the brain. The retina transduces, or serves as a translator that receives the light and sends the “message” up to the brain in a language that the brain can read and understand. Thus we are able to clearly focus and recognize the world around us!

The light of day was quickly disappearing and the light show was about to begin. The entire park went dark except for an illuminated globe that was floating across the water. We learned in class that we are able to see glow-in-the-dark objects because they become our new light source. You can see what I mean from the picture below.

IllumiNations was a great show and the fireworks were fantastic! I have a new found appreciation for the world around me now that I know the process that goes into letting me see.

Works Cited

“Sensation & Perception: Home.” Sensation & Perception: Home. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Mar. 2014. <http://sites.sinauer.com/wolfe3e/home/startF.htm>.