Esential data
When the sunlight
reaches the atmosphere,
it’s dispersed and
sometimes it’s separated
in the component colors of
water drops, ice crystals
and dust particles in the
air , causing a variety of
optical illusions like:
Rainbows, the fog springs occur
through the refracted light in
saturated water atmosphere.
The northern and southern lights
appear on the polar sky and they
are caused by loaded solar
particles , which react with the
atmosphere.
The intense heat can cause a mirageoptical illusions caused by the
refracted light through the
overheated air layers near the
ground.
The raindrops refract the sunlight acting like a prism and they decompose the
light in seven colors. Each color reappears with a slightly different angle,
depending on the wavelength, causing separated color bands. Red (with the
largest wavelength) is in outside of the rainbow, followed by orange, yellow,
green, blue, purple and violet.
The higher the sun is, the flatter the rainbow is. A double rainbow appears
when the light is reflected in the raindrops.
When the sunlight “hits” the drops in the fog, an almost colorless fogspring
appears. The lackcolors are due to the fact that the “delicate” fogdrops don’t
disperse the light as well as the big raindrops.
The global capital of the rainbows is Honolulu, in Hawaii.
Thanks to the mountains of the opposite side of the wind, the dominant trade winds,
hot and damp, rise, creating clouds and daily rainfall. And so appear many
rainbows.
These color shows can be seen at high
latitudes and they are created by
particles of solar wind, which enter
in the superior side of the
atmosphere and they are attracted
to the poles of the magnetic field.
When the particles go down in the
spiral of the magnetic field’s lines,
they “bombard” gas molecules ,
forcing them to imitate colored
light.
Auroras
Solar effects
The halo. A circle of
colored light, which
appears around the
Sun.
The parhelia(fake
sun). On one side
of the sun appears
a lightstain.
The halos and
parhelias are
caused by the
refractory sunlight
through the ice
crystals from the
atmosphere.
The corona. A light circle around the Sun caused by the
refract through the water drops.
The irization. The light is separated in colored stains
when it’s passing trough thin clouds.
Solar columns. Above the
Sun appear discs and
white columns caused by
reflection and not by light
refraction through ice
crystals.
The aureola.The Sun near the horizon designs the big shadow of
somebody who stays on a mountain peak on the clouds below.
Sometimes the shadow is surrounded by colored strips as happens
on the Brocken Mountain,Germany, where is called the Brocken
Spectrum.
Crepuscular rays.
Alternative light and
dark rays that appear
when the sunlight is
divided by a cloud or a
mountain.
Mirages
When the sunlight is passing through layers of
temperature and different densities, it’s refracted.
On very hot surfaces, like a desert’s ground or an
asphalted road, in the summer, the refracted light
is up and so is producing a false image ( ex.: a
canvas of water ) immediately above the ground.
Alternate layers of cold and warm air can create
complex mirages that seem like buildings
surrounded by water. It’s called Fata Morgana,
after the legend. Morgan le Fay, which is said
that she lived in a castle under water. A famous
Fata Morgana appears in Str. Messina, between
Italy si Sicily.
Optical effects