![]() A person's mind observes this occurrence as a waterbody on the road because water reflects the sky as well, but this illusion fades as the person gets nearer. Light originating from the sky at a slight angle to the sky is commonly refracted by the index gradient to look like the sky is reflected by the surface of the road. This effect is increased when the particular image is magnified using telescope lens or a telescope. ![]() A blurred simmering effect is subsequently created which influences the capability to resolve objects. Convection contributes to the variation of the air's temperature while the variation between the heated air at the road's surface and the cool air above results in a gradient in the air's refractive index. This phenomenon, also called the heat shimmer, can be seen by viewing objects through the exhaust gases expelled by jet engines or across the heated asphalt. Heat haze is a kind of inferior mirage observed when objects are viewed through hot air. The IJsselmeer and Markermeer lakes are some of the water bodies where inferior mirages are common. Inferior mirages can also occur over lakes or oceans by virtue of them being extensive and flat. The fake water or hot-road mirage is a common example of this type of mirage. Several temperature layers can cause some mirages to mix creating double images. The image will subsequently be distorted accordingly, and it can be horizontally or vertically extended or vibrating. It is characteristic of hot air to rise and cooler air, on the other hand, to descend which causes the layers to mix and turbulence to emerge. The image is normally upside down making it seem like the sky image is a water puddle serving as a mirror. Rays traveling from the top of the object will thus reach lower than the rays from the bottom. The light rays that originate from a distant object travel through almost the same air layers and they are also bent over nearly the same amount. The mirage leads the observer into seeing a bright and bluish area on land in the distance. The object, in this case, is the blue sky or another distant object in the same direction. The mirage is termed as inferior since it lies under the real object. The inferior mirage commonly occurs in the desert, and it appears as a water body in a distance. A mirage can be caught on camera since it is a real optical phenomenon. The term's origin lies in the French word mirage and the Latin mirari which translates to “to wonder at” or “to look at.” Mirages fall either into the superior, inferior or “Fata Morgana” categories. This phenomenon is also known as 'castles in the air'.The optical phenomenon called mirage occurs naturally, and it is as a result of the bending of light rays to create a displaced image of either distant objects or the sky. Distant objects appear extremely elongated, giving the impression of buildings and towns in the distance. However, Fata Morgana's are also frequent in deserts, after night time radiation has cooled down the sand to temperatures lower than the air above. Superior mirages are also frequent in high-latitude regions, such as Island and over glaciers.Ī famous superior mirage is the Fata Morgana, most frequently seen in the Strait of Messina between Italy and Sicily. Superior mirages are less frequent than inferior ones and a more common over larger water bodies, which are sometimes much colder than the air above it, e.g. Light is bent downwards from the object towards the viewer so that it appears to be elevated or floating in the air. In a superior mirage, the opposite conditions occur: the air close to the ground surface is much colder than the air above, which is known as temperature inversion. Everyone might know the this of mirage where pools of water appear to be lying on a hot road. An inferior mirage occurs when the ground surface is strongly heated and the air near the ground is much warmer than the air above. ![]() There are two main formes of mirage, classed according to whether the image of a distant object appears lower or higher that would normally expected. In fact often a patch of sky is mirrored in the hot air giving the shimmering appearance of a pool of water, where there is none. As a result, the relationship between objects and the horizon becomes distorted. This is because the air near the heated ground becomes considerably hotter than the air above, causing refraction of light rays from the sky, since the refractive index of air depends on its density and therefore on its temperature. When air near ground level is heated strongly by contact with the hot ground, it becomes less dense. A Mirage is an optical illusion that can be sometimes observed on hot days. ![]()
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