Quote:
Originally Posted by Maritime Q-Scout
Here's a random question a friend of mine keeps asking me and I keep coming up with different answers.
How come, sometimes planes look REALLY high in the sky, like you can't tell what they are, how many engines they are, or any markings on them. Yet, sometimes you can make out how many engines are on a plane, and the painting of the livery, etc?
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I'm going to take a very uneducated guess here. But I think it has to do with many combinations of factors.
Distance and vision: When 2 identical objects are REALLY far away, they may appear to be the same size, however, one may be closer than the other. A lot of times, people can't tell if something is approaching until it gets much closer. Is it possible that one could be close enough to make out the number of engines? Unlikely, but who knows.
Lighting: The position of the sun could very well affect your vision. The amount of glare could affect what you can and can't see. As well as the reflection of sunlight off the actual aircraft.
Aside from that, I can't think of much else. (I tried to think about what I've learned in my perceptions class)