Question

A narrow beam of light passes through a slab obliquely and is then received by an eye following figure. The index of refraction of the material in the slab fluctuates slowly with time. How will it appear to the eye? The twinkling of stars has a similar explanation.

Answer 1

The beam of light will seem to appear and disappear, just like the twinkling of the stars. This is because the refractive index of the material in the slab fluctuates slowly with time. So, the light rays get refracted differently with time and this causes them to get concentrated during certain times, or get diffused at other times.