Light phenomena, causes of appearance

The light that the heavenly bodies send us allows us to determine the location and motion of the planets, the sun, the moon and other luminaries. Light phenomena in nature we observe everywhere. In this we are helped by the eyes, as well as special instruments that give an opportunity to learn about the structure of celestial bodies, even those that are at a distance of billions of kilometers from the Earth. Observations in the telescope and photographing the planets made it possible to study the cloud cover, the speed of rotation, and the features of the surfaces.

The nature of the planet Earth gives us unique, rare, beautiful and incredible phenomena of nature.

Varieties of light effects

Here are just some of them:

Okologorizontalnaya arc. It is also called the "fiery rainbow". When light passes through ice crystals of cirrus clouds, the sky is covered with colored stripes, and the sky is as if covered with a "rainbow film." Such light phenomena are very rare, since a natural phenomenon occurs only when the ice crystals and the sun's rays are at a certain angle relative to each other.

Iridescent clouds. This effect also depends on how the sun is located to the droplets of water from the clouds. The color is determined by the different wavelengths of the light waves.

"The Ghost of Brocken." Amazing light phenomena are observed in some areas of our planet: if behind the back of a man standing on a hill or a mountain, the sun sets or rises, he can find out that his shadow, which falls on the clouds, increases to unbelievable dimensions. This is due to the refraction of the sun's rays by the smallest drops of fog. This effect is regularly observed at the top of Brocken in Germany.

Halo. Sometimes around the moon and the sun there are white circles. This occurs as a result of reflection or refraction of light by crystals of snow or ice. In frosty weather, halos, which are formed by crystals of snow and ice on the ground, reflect light and scatter it in different directions, resulting in an effect called "diamond dust".

Parhelion. The word "parhelion" means "false sun". It is a kind of halo: in the sky there are several additional Suns, located at the level with the present.

Everyone knows such an atmospheric phenomenon as a rainbow that appears after rain - the most beautiful atmospheric phenomenon.

Northern Lights. Similar light phenomena are observed in the polar regions. It is assumed that the same phenomenon exists in the atmosphere of other planets, Venus, for example. Scientists believe that aurorae appear as a result of the bombardment of the upper atmospheric layer by charged particles that move toward the Earth parallel to the lines of force of the geomagnetic field from outer space, called the plasma layer.

Polarization is the orientation in the space of electromagnetic oscillations of light waves. This phenomenon occurs when light falls on a surface at a certain angle and, being reflected, becomes polarized. Such a sky can be seen with the help of a camera filter.

Star track. The phenomenon can be imprinted with a camera, and it is impossible to do this with the naked eye.

The crown around the Sun is a small colored crown around a given planet or bright objects. They are occasionally observed in those cases when the light sources are hidden behind translucent clouds, and arises when the light rays are scattered by small droplets of water forming a cloud.

Mirage - this optical effect, which is due to the refraction of light rays as it passes through layers of air with different densities. It is expressed by the appearance of a deceptive image. Mirages are most often observed in hot climates, mainly in deserts. Sometimes they display whole objects that are from the observer at a great distance.

Pillars of light. These are such light phenomena, when light is reflected from ice crystals, and vertical luminous columns are formed, as if emerging from the surface of the earth. The source in this case is the Moon, the Sun or artificial lights.