Planet Lines Across Water

Explanation: What's causing those lines? Objects in the sky sometimes appear reflected as lines across water — but why? If the water's surface is smooth, then reflected objects would appear similarly -- as spots. But if the water is choppy, then there are many places where light from the object can reflect off the water and still come to you -- and so together form, typically, a line. The same effect is frequently seen for the Sun just before sunset and just after sunrise . Pictured about 10 days ago in Ibiza , Spain , images of the rising Moon , Venus (top), and Saturn (right, faint) were captured both directly and in line-reflected forms from the Mediterranean Sea . The other bright object on the right with a water-reflected line is a beacon on a rock to warn passing boats.

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