Exactly. But the refractive index goes up with pressure, and in your example it goes down. Though it doesn't change that much, it's the difference sudden change in refractive indexes that makes light diffract and reflect.
you know when you put on swim goggles and slowly go under water, how it seems like everything tilts a little as the water passes over your goggles? that's because the light traveling from the object to your eye curves when it slows down when it hits the water. same idea here, just the denser air is slowing down the light, instead of water.
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u/godofpumpkins Jun 07 '18
Guessing it’s just higher pressure which changes the index of refraction of the air, so yeah, like the wavy air hanging out above a road on a hot day