MSGID: 1:317/3 635975c1   
   PID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
   TID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
    EPOD - a service of USRA   
      
   The Earth Science Picture of the Day (EPOD) highlights the diverse processes   
   and phenomena which shape our planet and our lives. EPOD will collect and   
   archive photos, imagery, graphics, and artwork with short explanatory   
   captions and links exemplifying features within the Earth system. The   
   community is invited to contribute digital imagery, short captions and   
   relevant links.   
      
      
    Two Types of Bewildering Sunset Mirages   
      
      October 26, 2022   
      
      
       1867A6DD-C0FC-43B5-8AF2-39B74FDA3B46 (1)   
      
       8849D44E-E8B3-485F-AC48-17BA9AA29E6D   
      
      Photographer:  Mila Zinkova   
      
      Summary Author:  Mila Zinkova   
      
      Have you ever seen a sun that just doesn’t want to set? Well, on   
      September 4, 2022, I did, over the Pacific Ocean near San Francisco. Of   
      course, the sun set at the time it should have. I was watching   
       miraged images of the sun and, believe me, this miraged sun was in   
      no hurry to set. A few times, miraged images of the sun appeared at the   
      same level they disappeared from a few minutes before, giving an   
      appearance of the rising, rather than the setting sun. And then, for a   
      few minutes the miraged sun hardly changed or moved at all. It was as   
      if the world suddenly stood still. Actually, I was observing a   
      beautiful  Novaya Zemlya sunset mirage. The photo at top is a   
      screenshot from a video I filmed.  Click here to see it.   
      
      On the very next day, September 5, 2022, during a heat wave in   
      California, I filmed another confounding sunset mirage (bottom photo).   
       Click here to see the video. The atmospheric optics are quite   
      complex. Because sometimes the density differences of the air are so   
      great,  rays become almost trapped within the air layers. This is   
      referred to as ducting. It may take some time and large distances   
      before the rays can escape these layers.  Dr. Andrew Young helped   
      interpret this odd sunset.   
      
      "It starts out looking like a fairly typical leaky-duct sunset, with a   
      moderate amount of wave modulation within the duct ( inversion   
      layer). But then at the end, you do indeed have a blank strip that   
      fails to close up; the Sun simply fades away in the extinction   
      ( loss of light in the atmosphere)."   
      
      In the video, you'll notice a  green-flash bit or two in the early   
      part of the display, before the Sun dips down into the really thick   
      part of the extinction.   
      
      Dr. Young continues, "As always in these extreme  Type B sunsets,   
      the  path length of the rays through the air becomes longer and   
      longer as the Sun's geometric position goes farther below the   
       astronomical horizon."   
      
      Mirages such as this can be confusing to try to understand, but they're   
      a joy to behold.   
      
      
      San Francisco, California Coordinates: 37.7749, -122.4194   
      
      
   Related EPODs   
      
       Two Types of Bewildering Sunset Mirages  Meteors from Fragments   
      of Chang Zheng 2F Rocket Launch  iridescent Clouds Observed from   
      Tuen Mun, Hong Kong  Dew Drops  Golden Cumulus Clouds over Mt   
      Makiling at Sunrise  Thunderstorm and Rainbow over Zagreb, Croatia   
       More...   
      
   Atmospheric Effects Links   
      
        *  Atmospheric Optics   
        *  Optic Picture of Day: Gruppo Astrofili Galileo Galilei   
        *  Color and Light in Nature   
        *  The Colors of Twillight and Sunset   
        *  Refraction Index   
        *  Image Gallery: Atmospheric Effects   
        *  What is a Rainbow?   
      
   -   
      Earth Science Picture of the Day is a service of the  Universities   
      Space Research Association.   
      
   https://epod.usra.edu   
       
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