Plain English Meaning

What you can see out of the corners of your eyes. It is good at noticing motion, but not good at seeing fine detail.

Full Definition

The portion of the visual field outside the area of sharp central focus, detected by the sides of the retina. Peripheral vision is highly sensitive to movement and to changes in light or contrast, but it does not provide sharp detail or color clarity.

Context Anchor

Used in collision avoidance, especially when scanning outside the airplane for other aircraft.

Derivation

Peripheral comes from the Greek peripheria, meaning the outer boundary or edge of something. So peripheral vision literally means seeing at the edges of your view, away from the center.

Why Pilots Care

Pilots depend on it during traffic scans to other aircraft that may enter the without being directly fixated upon, supporting timely avoidance .