Glossary term: Refracción
Description: La refracción es el fenómeno por el cual una onda —y, concretamente, la luz— cambia de dirección al pasar de un medio a otro. La magnitud y la dirección de este cambio dependen de los «índices de refracción» de los dos medios, que a su vez dependen de la velocidad de la luz en cada uno de ellos, una relación que queda expresada matemáticamente en la ley de la refracción de Snell. La forma en que la luz atraviesa un trozo de cristal puede utilizarse para crear una lente, que concentra los rayos de luz paralelos —como la luz de una estrella lejana— que inciden sobre ella. Este es el efecto principal que se aprovecha en la construcción de los telescopios refractores. La refracción también depende de la longitud de onda de la luz incidente, un hecho que puede aprovecharse, como en un prisma, para separar la luz por longitudes de onda en sus colores elementales constituyentes, lo cual es importante para registrar y examinar espectros.
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See this term in other languages
Term and definition status: The original definition of this term in English have been approved by a research astronomer and a teacher The translation of this term and its definition is still awaiting approval
The OAE Multilingual Glossary is a project of the IAU Office of Astronomy for Education (OAE) in collaboration with the IAU Office of Astronomy Outreach (OAO). The terms and definitions were chosen, written and reviewed by a collective effort from the OAE, the OAE Centers and Nodes, the OAE National Astronomy Education Coordinators (NAECs) and other volunteers. You can find a full list of credits here. All glossary terms and their definitions are released under a Creative Commons CC BY-4.0 license and should be credited to "IAU OAE".
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In Other Languages
- Árabe: الانكسار
- Alemán: Brechung
- Inglés: Refraction
- Francés: Réfraction
- Italiano: Rifrazione
- Portugués de Brasil: Refração
- Chino simplificado: 折射
- Chino tradicional: 折射
Related Media
24 Hours of Rainbow
Caption: Honorable mention in the 2023 IAU OAE Astrophotography Contest, category of Still images taken exclusively with smartphones/mobile devices.
This panoramic view taken with a smartphone of Livorno, Italy, showcases a series of vivid rainbows captured on three different days in December 2021. Rainbows are the result of sunlight being refracted by water droplets suspended in the air, typically after rainfall or during misty conditions. The water droplets act like a prism, breaking up (refracting) the sunlight into the various colours. The different wavelengths of light are refracted by different amounts, which is why we see this layering of colours. The photographer skillfully merged the most remarkable shots taken on different days to highlight the diverse sizes and brilliance of these rainbows. The locations at which the rainbows appear to be centred are different because each rainbow appeared when the Sun was at a different position in the sky. This composite image beautifully captures the transient yet mesmerising allure of rainbows, illustrating their fleeting appearance and gradual dissipation influenced by the shifting atmospheric conditions.
Credit: Fabrizio Guasconi/IAU OAE (CC BY 4.0)
License: CC-BY-4.0 Creative Commons Reconocimiento 4.0 Internacional (CC BY 4.0) icons
