Not really evidence, but more of a mirror oddity

[Damian]

This morning I noticed a weird visual oddity in my bathroom mirror.  This picture is not intended to be evidence of the paranormal, but rather an example of something weird that my bathroom mirror does.  Applying this larger-scale, I wonder if this kind of effect could lead to misinterpretation of a reflection, something thought to be paranormal but really is not.

The AC adapter for my beard trimmer has a green light that illuminates when charging.  In the attached photo, the actual charger is on the right with a single green light, and the mirror's reflection of the charger is on the left and it appears to have 3 green lights.

[PPI Tracy]

Very interesting.......

[Damian]

I'm almost certain that it has something to do with the quality and clarity of the glass used in the mirror, but an interesting effect nonetheless.   

[PPI Jason]

Thanks for submitting that Damian. I think it would definitely be good to save that photo in our collection as a comparison example to show people that may submit similar photos they believe to be paranormal, which are not.

[PPI Brian]

Hi Damian,

Congratulations; you captured an image of an optical abberation.   

Definition: aberration, optical -- An imperfection or error in the image produced by a lens, mirror, or optical system. There are six types of aberration: chromatic aberration, spherical aberration, coma (see Coma, Optical), field curvature, distortion, and astigmatism. Chromatic aberration is not present in images formed by mirrors. All can be corrected to a greater or lesser extent by suitable optical design.

The links below should explain the physics behind this phenomena:

http://scienceworld.wolfram.com/physics/OpticalAberrations.html

http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1961AmJPh..29..687F

http://www.astrosurf.com/luxorion/report-aberrations.htm

[Damian]

I knew there had to be a name for it!  Thanks Brian!

I checked out all 3 links but all were over my head.  I understand the general concept of the optical abberation, but don't seem to comprehend what specifically is causing that effect in my mirror.  I'll let this info soak in and maybe when I look at it again I'll be able to connect the dots.   

[PPI Brian]

No worries, Damian. It might sound incredibly arcane, but it's a very simple concept. 

The light is being "bent" by the glass in the mirror. This causes a weird series of reflections between the surface of the glass and the reflective coating applied to the back of the mirror. That's why you see three green lights reflected in the mirror instead of one. This image demonstrates why it's so incredibly difficult to make high qualitys mirror for telescopes.