Ahem.

[equuschick]

If any of you know what the term Fata Morgana means today (besides the music band and besides Morgan L'Fay, though she is related to the subject), by all means please comment here and explain the phemomenon to me in small words so I can understand. Reliable photos would be good. If you are an expert, all the better. Fata Morganas are my new little

Comments

[eattheolives]

"The fata morgana mirage is one that can occur only where there are alternating warm and cold layers of air near the ground or water surface. Instead of traveling straight through these layers, light is bent towards the colder, hence denser, air. The result can be a rather complicated light path and a strange image of a distant object. A fate morgana actually is a superposition of several images of one object. Typically one image is upright more or less above two inverted images that may be mingled together. The images may undergo rapid changes as the air layers move slightly up and down relative to the observer.

In Alaska the best chance of seeing the relatively rare fate morgana is in winter when temperature inversions develop in the larger valleys. When seeing a complex mountain image out across a valley or bay one can attempt to sort out in the mind the paths that the light rays must have taken. Perhaps it's best just to acknowledge that it is Morgan le Fay beckoning.

Another type of mirage is known as a superior image. In this type of mirage, which usually occurs over water or ice, the light rays from an image are refracted downward rather than upward. As a result, a ship on the ocean may seem to be floating in the air. Also, an object that is below the horizon, that could not normally be seen, may be seen on or just above the horizon. This phenomenon is called looming. The image may also be magnified, so that very distant objects may seem closer.

A very special type of superior image mirage is one called a fata morgana. This mirage sometimes appears to be a castle or a city floating on the sea. This type of mirage is one that can only occur where there are alternating layers of warm and cold air near the surface of the water. This creates a very strange image of a distant object that is actually a combination of several images of the same object. The fata morgana mirage is named after Morgan La Fay, the enchantress who was the half-sister of King Arthur. She was something of a siren who supposedly lived in a castle under the sea, and was said to sometimes make this castle appear reflected up in the air, to lure unsuspecting sailors to their deaths. The most famous fata morgana appears in the Straits of Messina, between Italy and Sicily. They are also sometimes seen on the Great Lakes, and can sometimes occur over ice in Alaska and at the poles. "

You probably already knew all that...