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During the day, light scattered by the atmosphere causes the
island in the distance to be invisible. At sunset, when the sun is behind
the photographer, almost all the light except for the red component is scattered
before it reaches the scene and the island is visible. From Lynch &
Livingston, 1995. |
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Diagram explaining how airlight is generated. |
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Clouds illuminated by the setting sun are red. From Lynch
& Livingston, 1995. |
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During an eclipse, the little images of the sun seen through
pinhole size holes in the leaves are crescent shaped. From Lynch & Livingston,
1995. |
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Fisheye view of the overhead sky with the sun covered up by
the photographer's hand. Notice that the horizon is brighter than the overhead
sky. This effect is due to the fact that the much larger volume of air seen
close to the horizon can scatter more light. From Lynch & Livingston,
1995. |
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Mirage (inferior) seen close to a hot wall. Note the image
of the car and the stick leaning against the wall. From Lynch & Livingston,
1995. |
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Superior mirage of a "floating" iceberg. |
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Inferior mirage of an approaching car. From Lynch & Livingston,
1995. |
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Diagram showing how inferior mirages are formed. |
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Diagram showing how superior mirages are formed. |
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Corona around the moon. From Lynch & Livingston, 1995. |
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A lunar eclipse where the moon is illuminated
only by light shining through the earth's atmosphere. The moon appears red
because all but the red rays have scattered away. From Minnaert, 1974. |
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Diagram showing how the lunar eclipse works. |
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Double rainbow. From Minnaert, 1974. |
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Double rainbow. From Lynch & Livingston, 1995. |
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Supernumerary bows caused by interference inside the primary
rainbow. From Minnaert, 1974. |
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Diagram showing how the primary and secondary rainbows are
formed. |
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Diagram showing how the primary rainbow is formed by single
reflection in a raindrop. |
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The well-known "Spectre of the Brocken" caused by
shadows falling on fog, leading to a three dimensional effect. This would
be an interesting effect at night, wouldn't it? From Lynch & Livingston,
1995. |
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A sun pillar caused by reflection of the setting sun in water.
From Minnaert, 1974. |
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Sun pillar |
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Pillar caused by the moon |
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22 degree halo caused by ice crystals |
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Picture showing several halos at once |
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Diagram showing how the 22 degree and 46 degree halos are
formed. |
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Diagram showing how the 22 degree halo is formed. |
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22 degree halo with flanking sundogs |
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Diagram showing how sundogs are formed by reflection from
ice crystals.. |
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Types of ice crystals which cause many halo effects |
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Sunrays streaming down from a cloud. |
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The setting sun appears flattened and causes a sun pillar
by reflection. From Minnaert, 1974. |
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Distortions of the setting sun caused by the atmosphere. From
Lynch & Livingston, 1995. |
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The setting sun meets its image in water, fusing together.
From Minnaert, 1974. |