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Mirage
*** Shopping-Tip: Mirage
:''This article is about mirage, an optical phenomenon. For other meanings, see
Mirage (disambiguation).''
Image:Roadmirage.jpg thumb|300px|right|A [[highway mirage, a type of inferior mirage]]A '''mirage''', derived from the
Latin ''mirari'', meaning 'to be astonished', is an
optical phenomenon which often occurs naturally. The kind most commonly seen (known as inferior mirage, because the inverted image lies below the upright one) is produced by the
refraction of light when it passes into a layer of warm air lying close to a heated ground surface (see ''
highway mirage''). This is an example of
gradient index optics.
In
deserts, mirages may give the appearance of a lake or other large body of water in the distance; this is actually an image of the sky being refracted back up from the warm air lying over the sand. On tarmac roads, mirages give the impression that distant objects are being reflected by a puddle of water on the road.
Superior mirage
More spectacular mirages (superior mirages) are produced by a
temperature inversion near eye level. In these, the inverted image lies above the upright one; and there may even be several alternating layers of upright and inverted images. These are known as the
fata morgana (mirage) fata morgana.
Abnormally large refraction of sunlight during sunrise or sunset can produce sunrises much earlier than predicted or sunsets much later than predicted. The conditions necessary for such refraction occurs most often, but not exclusively, in polar regions where strong surface temperature inversions can be geographically extensive and homogeneous. This mirage is often called a
Novaya Zemlya mirage.
''See also:''
*
Highway mirage
Example images of Superior mirages
(Temperature inversions over cold
Lake Superior)
Image:seamiragetrees.jpg thumb|center|400px|Trees shown which are normally invisible below horizon, a superior mirage reflected from above
Image:Miragesunline.jpg thumb|center|400px|Sunrise first light caused by super-refracted sunlight
Image:Miragesunrise.jpg thumb|center|400px|Double sun sunrise caused by a super-refracted sun
{{Commons|Mirage}}
Category:Optical phenomena
de:Fata Morgana
es:Espejismo
fr:Mirage
it:Miraggio
he:מיר×?×–'
ja:蜃気楼
pl:Miraż
ru:Мираж
sv:Hägring
zh:海市蜃楼
*** Shopping-Tip: Mirage
