Subj : ES Picture of the Day 26  2022
To   : All
From : Dan Richter
Date : Wed Oct 26 2022 12:00:32

 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

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   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?

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   Earth Science Picture of the Day is a service of the  Universities
   Space Research Association.

https://epod.usra.edu
 
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