Phenomenal | Lights, Camera, Action... Refraction? Mystery Cache
Phenomenal | Lights, Camera, Action... Refraction?
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CACHE LOCATED AT N44°16ABC W88°27DEF
Everyone loves to see rainbows, but did you know that there are many other natural phenomenon caused by reflected and refracted light? The ones we see most ofter are rainbows, but even more spectacular are double or triple rainbows, and these other unique light shows, many of which can only been seen near the poles.
I've seen some of these phenomena and marvel at their beauty when that chance encounter occurs. Unfortunately, I never seem to have a camera on hand to catch the action. We may never see some of these, but looking at pictures that someone had the opportunity and foresight to capture, they certainly are amazing.
Parhelic Circle (1), Brocken Spectre (2), Moonbows (3), Kern Arc (4), Sun Dog (5), Fire Rainbow (6).
A Also called parhelia, these are a more common atmospheric elements which are the brighter parts of the accompanying halo, usually seen on each horizontal point.
B Effect is seen you are looking down into mist from the peak of a hill with a low sun behind you. Light is reflected towards its source by a cloud of uniformly-sized water droplets.
C Much less common than another spectacle they also require a bright light source, some rain and a little luck.
D Also less common, this optical phenomenon is also caused by the refraction of sunlight through thick, flat, horizontal ice crystals, but only in cirrus clouds. It is only observable under a series of specific atmospheric conditions, and only in certain parts of the globe.
E One of the rarest, it is formed by rays entering the top faces of horizontal plate crystals and leaving through a near vertical side face. These rays undergo an internal reflection off a side face inclined at 60 degrees to the exit face. Only near triangular hexagonal crystals with three alternate side faces, much shorter than the others, allow this spectacle to happen.
F Generally white in colour because they are produced by reflection, they can however show a bluish or greenish tone near the 120° parhelia and be reddish or deep violet along the fringes.
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