14 light phenomena in photography

You have probably seen a rainbow and you probably know what a mirage is on a highway in the heat. Some of us have been more fortunate and have seen natural phenomena such as the Northern Lights, white or inverted rainbows, and star trails with our own eyes. In this post, we have selected a little over a dozen natural phenomena that appear as a result of refraction or other action of light. In a word, these are light phenomena, thanks to which stunning photographs and unforgettable impressions are obtained.

(Total 14 photos)

1 Rainbow Wall

A rare atmospheric phenomenon, also known as a "fiery rainbow", occurs when the horizontal rays of the rising or setting sun are refracted through horizontally arranged ice crystals of clouds. The result is a kind of wall, painted in different colors of the rainbow. Photo taken in the sky of Washington in 2006.

2. Halo

The sun's rays are reflected from ice crystals located at an angle of 22 ° with respect to the Sun in high-altitude clouds. Different positions of ice crystals can cause halo modifications. On frosty days, the “diamond dust” effect can be observed, in this case, the sun's rays are repeatedly reflected from ice crystals.

3. Aircraft contrails

Aircraft exhaust and eddy currents at high altitudes turn ice particles into water. The long white streaks high in the sky are nothing more than water droplets in suspension.

4. Twilight rays

The sun's rays from the setting sun, passing through the gaps in the clouds, form clearly visible individual beams of sunlight. Very often, such rays of the sun can be seen in various science fiction films. This photo was taken in one of Utah's national parks.

5. Northern lights

The northern lights are nothing more than a collision in the upper atmosphere of the sun's rays with charged particles of the gases of the Earth's magnetic field.

6. Star trails

Visual demonstration of the rotation of the Earth. This phenomenon is invisible to the naked eye. To get such a photo, you need to put the camera on a slow shutter speed. In the picture, only the only Polar Star, located almost above the Earth's axis, remains almost motionless.

7. White rainbow

The photo was taken on the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. The small size of air droplets of water makes it impossible to decompose the sun's rays into spectrums of colors, so the rainbow is only white.

8. Buddha Light

This photo was taken in China. The phenomenon is similar to the "ghost of Brocken". The sun's rays are reflected from atmospheric water droplets over the sea, the shadow in the middle of the rainbow circle of reflected rays is the shadow of the aircraft.

9. Inverted Rainbow

Such an unusual rainbow also appears as a result of the refraction of the sun's rays through ice crystals located only in certain parts of the clouds.

10. Mirage

A very common weather phenomenon. It can be observed not only in the desert, but also on the road in the sultry heat. This phenomenon is formed as a result of the refraction of sunlight through a “lens” formed by layers of colder (at the surface of the earth) and warmer (located above) air. This kind of lens reflects objects above the horizon, in this case the sky. The photo was taken in Thuringia (Germany).

11. Iridescent clouds

The rays of the setting sun at right angles "stumble" on the water droplets of the clouds. As a result of diffraction (the bending of water droplets by the sun's rays) and interference of the sun's rays (the decomposition of the sun's rays into spectra), the cloud figure is filled with a gradient fill, as in Photoshop.

12. Trail of rocket exhaust

Trail from a Minotaur missile fired by the US Air Force in California. Air currents blowing at different heights at different speeds cause distortion in the rocket exhaust trail. Atmospheric water droplets from melted ice crystals also cause sunlight to break down into different colors of the rainbow.

13. Brocken Ghost, Germany

This phenomenon is observed on a foggy morning. The iridescent solar disk appears in front of the sun as a result of the reflection of the sun's rays from the water droplets of the fog. The curious triangular shadow that breaks the iridescent disc of reflected sunlight is nothing more than a projection of the upper surface of the clouds.

14. Zodiacal Light

The zodiacal light very often masks the moonlight and the artificial light of cities. On a quiet moonless night in nature, the likelihood that you will see the light of the zodiac is quite high. This phenomenon is observed as a result of the reflection of sunlight from particles of cosmic dust surrounding the Earth.