The unusual light phenomena (25 pics + text)

Okologorizontalnaya arc. Known as "fiery rainbow." Colored bands arise directly to the sky as a result of light passing through ice crystals in cirrus clouds covering the sky "rainbow film." This natural phenomenon is very difficult to see, as both ice crystals and sunlight must be at a certain angle to each other, to create the effect of "fire rainbow».



"Phantom of Brocken" In certain parts of the Earth can be observed a surprising phenomenon: a man standing on a hill or mountain, behind which rises or the sun, discovers that his shadow fell on the clouds, it becomes implausible great. This is due to the fact that minute droplets of mist special refract and reflect the sunlight. His name phenomenon has been named tops Brocken in Germany, where, because of the frequent fogs, you can regularly observe this effect.



Okolozenitnaya arc. Okolozenitnaya arc - this arc with the center at zenith, located above the Sun for about 46 °. It is rarely seen, and only for a few minutes, has a bright color, shape and always parallel to the horizon. An outside observer, she recalled the smile of the Cheshire Cat, or inverted rainbow.



"Misty" rainbow. Misty halo like a colorless rainbow. As usual rainbow, the halo formed by the refraction of light through the water crystals. However, unlike the cloud, forming a normal rainbow, fog, bearing this halo, is made up of smaller particles oxen, and light is refracted in the tiny droplet does not splash it.



Gloria. When exposed to light scattering effect (diffraction of light, previously reflected in the water crystal clouds), he returned from the clouds in the same direction, which fell, and an effect called "Gloria". Watch this effect can only be in the clouds, which are located directly in front of the viewer or below it, at a point which is on the opposite side to the light source. Thus, Gloria can only be seen from the mountain or from the aircraft, and light sources (sun or moon) must be located directly behind the observer. Gloria bright circles in China is also called Buddha's Light. In this photo beautiful rainbow halo surrounds the shadow of air balls, fallen to below a cloud.



Galo to 22º. White light circle around the sun or moon, which arise as a result of refraction or reflection of light in the atmosphere are crystals of ice or snow, called halo. In the present atmosphere of small crystals of water, and when they form a right angle brink of a plane passing through the sun, the one who observes the effect, and the crystals in the sky becomes visible characteristic white halo surrounding the sun. Thus faces reflect light rays within a 22 °, forming a halo. In the cold season halo formed crystals of ice and snow on the ground, reflect the sunlight and disperse it in different directions, forming effect called "diamond dust».



Iridescent clouds. When the sun is at a certain angle to the drop of water that make up the cloud, the droplets bends sunlight and create unusual effects of "rainbow cloud", turning it into a rainbow of colors. His colors are clouds and a rainbow, are required to varying wavelengths of light.



Moon arc. Dark night sky and bright moon light often give rise to a phenomenon called "lunar rainbow" - a rainbow appearing in the light of the moon. Such a rainbow located on the opposite side of the sky from the moon, and often seem to be completely white. However, sometimes they can be seen in all its glory.



Pargely. "Pargely" in Greek - "false sun". This is one form of the halo (see para. 6): in heaven there is one or more additional images of the Sun, located at the same height above the horizon as the sun now. Millions of ice crystals with a vertical surface, reflecting the sun, and formed this beautiful phenomenon.



Rainbow. Rainbow - the most beautiful meteor. Rainbow can take many forms, common to them is a rule of color - in the sequence of the spectrum (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet). Rainbows can be seen when the sun illuminates part of the sky, and the air is saturated with moisture droplets, for example, during or immediately after rain. In ancient times, appearances of the rainbow in the sky attached mystical meaning. See the rainbow was considered a good omen, travel or go under it promised happiness and success. Double rainbow, is said to bring good luck and wishes come true. The ancient Greeks believed that the rainbow - is a bridge to heaven, and the Irish felt that at the other end of the rainbow is the legendary gold Leprechaun.



North siyanie.Svechenie observed in the sky in the polar regions, known as the northern or auroral as well as the South - in the Southern Hemisphere). It is assumed that this phenomenon exists also in the atmospheres of other planets such as Venus. The nature and origin of auroral - the subject of intense research, and in this regard have been developed many theories. & Quot; Auroras, as scientists believe, are due to the bombing of the upper atmosphere by charged particles moving to the land along the geomagnetic field lines of the field of near-Earth space, called plasma layer. Projection plasma layer along the geomagnetic field lines in the Earth's atmosphere is in the form of rings surrounding the northern meters south magnetic poles (auroral ovals) & quot ;.



Condensation (contrail) trail. Condensation should - this white stripes left by aircraft in the sky. By their nature, they are condensed mist consisting of moisture present in the atmosphere and the exhaust gas of engines. Most often, these tracks short - under the influence of high temperatures, they simply evaporate. However, some of them down to the lower layers of the atmosphere, forming cirrus clouds. Environmentalists believe that transformed thus condensing traces of the aircraft have a negative impact on the climate. Thin high-altitude cirrus clouds, which are derived from modified aircraft tracks hinder the passage of sunlight and consequently lower the temperature of the planet, unlike ordinary cirrus clouds, which can retain heat the earth.



Next exhaust gas flares. Air flow in the high atmosphere distort inversion traces of space rockets and pieces of the exhaust gases bends sunlight and colors in all traces color of the rainbow. Huge colored curls stretch for several kilometers across the sky before evaporate.



Polarization. Polarization - is the focus of electromagnetic light wave oscillations in space. The polarization of light occurs when light falls at a certain angle to the surface, it is reflected and becomes polarized. Polarized light also propagates in free space as a normal sunlight, but the human eye is usually not able to capture the changing colors as a result of enhancing the effect of polarization. This picture taken using a wide-angle lens with a polarizing filter shows how intense blue sky attached electromagnetic charge. Such a sky we can see only through a filter camera.



Star trail. Invisible to the naked eye "star trail" can capture on camera. This picture was taken at night, using a camera mounted on a tripod, with a fully open lens aperture and shutter speed for more than hour. The photo shows the "movement" sky - a natural change of the Earth as a result of the rotation makes the stars "move". The only fixed star - Polaris, which indicates the astronomical North Pole.



Zodiacal light. Scattered light the night sky, created by sunlight reflected from interplanetary dust particles, called zodiacal light. The zodiacal light can be seen evening or morning in the west to the east.



Crown. Crown, or crowns - are small colored rings around the Sun, the Moon or other bright objects that occur from time to time, when the light source is behind a translucent clouds. Crown occurs when light fine water droplets of water, forming a cloud. Sometimes the crown looks like a luminous spot (or glory), surrounds the Sun (or the Moon), which concludes with red ring. During eclipses the Crown is surrounded by shaded sun.



Twilight rays. Twilight rays - divergent beams of sunlight, which become visible through their coverage of the dust in the upper atmosphere. Shadows of clouds form dark stripes, and among them are distributed rays. This effect occurs when the sun is low on the horizon before sunset or after sunrise.



Mirage. The optical effect caused by the refraction of light as it passes through layers of air with different densities, expressed in the emergence of fraudulent image - a mirage. Mirages can be seen in a hot climate, especially in the deserts. The smooth surface of the sand in the distance becomes similar to an open water source, especially if you look away from the dune or hill. A similar illusion is in town on a hot day, the sun's rays on the heated asphalt. In fact, "water surface" - is none other than the reflection of the sky. Sometimes mirages show entire objects at a large distance from the observer.



Poles sveta.Ploskie ice crystals reflect light in the upper atmosphere and form vertical columns of light, as if emerging from the earth's surface. The light sources may be the moon, the sun or artificial lights.





And this is a phenomenon that the inhabitants of the island of Madeira in the Atlantic Ocean, watched one day defies any classification.