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Topic: Fata morgana (mirage)

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	Fata Morgana (mirage) at AllExperts
		A fata morgana, named after Morgan le Fay, the fairy shapeshifting half-sister of King Arthur, is a mirage, an optical phenomenon which results from a temperature inversion.
		Fata Morgana are usually seen in the morning after a cold night which has resulted in the radiation of heat into space.
		Fata Morgana are superior mirages, which are distinct from the more common inferior mirages, which create the illusion of distant pools of water in the desert and on hot roads.
	en.allexperts.com /e/f/fa/fata_morgana_(mirage).htm (302 words)

	Edge of the Arctic Shelf
		A mirage is a false image formed by the refraction, or bending, of light.
		Fata morgana mirage observed on the 2002 cruise.
		The fata morgana is a superior mirage formed when a layer of warm air overlies a cold surface (known as an inversion).
	www.whoi.edu /science/PO/arcticedge/arctic_west03/facts/facts_optical.html (653 words)

	Weather Elements: Mirages: A Primer
		The terms inferior and superior are not commentaries on their quality of the mirage's appearance but refer to the perceived position of the image relative to the actual location of the object.
		Mirages form when light rays emitted from a source or reflected off an object are bent as the path of the light ray crosses air layers of different densities.
		Mirages are confined to small viewing angles even when they appear large, about half a degree in width -- the size of the solar disk -- and most portray objects located from half a kilometre to about five kilometres (about a quarter mile to three miles).
	www.islandnet.com /~see/weather/elements/mirage1.htm (2465 words)

	Fata Morgana, Alaska Science Forum (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-10)
		Fata Morgana, also known as Morgan le Fay, was a fairy enchantress skilled in the art of changing shape.
		A special type of complex mirage, one that sometimes gives the impression of a castle half in the air and half in the sea, is named after Fata Morgana.
		The fate morgana mirage is one that can occur only where there are alternating warm and cold layers of air near the ground or water surface.
	www.gi.alaska.edu /ScienceForum/ASF2/261.html (311 words)

	The UnMuseum - Mirages
		Though we associate mirages with the illusion of distant water in a desert, the phantom oasis is actually just the simplest example of this bizarre effect.
		Since the properties of the mirage change with the movement of the air masses, objects in the mirage may twinkle, jump around, seem to speed away or disappear.
		Fata Morganas may also be the cause of legends about phantom ships that sail the sky.
	unmuseum.mus.pa.us /mirage.htm (1172 words)

	Mirage
		Mirages are, in fact, a kind of optical illusion where the natural and reasonable assumptions of the visual sense are led astray, in this case by the curvature of light rays, which are so often straight lines from the object seen to the eye, as the eye always assumes, but here are not.
		Mirages have been studied scientifically for a long while, and the literature is immense (although, unfortunately, inaccessible at the present time and place).
		Mirages were well-known to the ancients, and this was the haunt of Scylla and Charybdis, malevolent haunters of the Straits who caused dangerous tidal currents there.
	www.du.edu /~jcalvert/astro/mirage.htm (4543 words)

	BBC - h2g2 - Fata Morgana - The Superior Mirage
		In ancient times it was believed that fata morgana were the work of witches and sorcerers so they were named in honour of King Arthur's half sister Morgan Le Fay.
		A fata morgana is basically an awesome optical phenomenon which occurs rather like a regular mirage, only on a much grander scale.
		The terms 'superior mirage' and 'inferior mirage' indicate the position of the observer in regard to the surface of the reflection - a superior mirage is above the observer, whereas an inferior mirage is below the observer.
	www.bbc.co.uk /dna/h2g2/A13900178 (857 words)

	The Superior Mirage
		The superior mirage is as common in cold polar regions as the inferior mirage is in the hot deserts and is known as the arctic mirage or hillingar in Icelandic.
		Mirages also have their playful side -- inverting images of ships at sea and hanging them in mid-air, or constructing dancing fairy castles over the waters, the Fata Morgana.
		Literally, Fata Morgana means the Fairy Morgana, a reference to the English legends of King Arthur's enchanted sister Morgana, who dwelled in a crystal castle beneath the sea.
	www.suite101.com /article.cfm/science_sky/92077/2 (395 words)

	Superior Mirage (Image)
		A superior mirage occurs when an image of an object appears above the actual object, due to the refraction or bending of light waves from the object down toward the eyes of the observer.
		In a superior mirage with an inverted image, the gradient in atmospheric density is so sharp that rays from the lower portion of an object are bent considerably more than rays from the upper portion of an object, causing a mirage of the object to appear inverted above the object.
		The fata morgana is a complex mirage in which distant objects are distorted as well as elongated vertically.
	nsidc.org /arcticmet/basics/phenomena/superior_mirage.html (258 words)

	Weather Elements: The Superior Mirage: Seeing Beyond
		Mirages fall into two main categories: inferior and superior, so called not for their image quality, but for the apparent position of the image relative to the object's actual position.
		The superior mirage is not as commonly recognized as the familiar highway "water pools" of the inferior mirage.
		Since superior mirages are caused by cold air lying beneath relatively warmer air, they are most common and strongest in the Earth's polar regions where the surface is covered by ice or snow or cold seas for most of the year.
	www.islandnet.com /~see/weather/elements/supmrge.htm (2868 words)

	Fata Morgana - Search Results - MSN Encarta
		Fata Morgana - Search Results - MSN Encarta
		Fata Morgana, a mirage, often seen in the Strait of Messina in Italy.
		It was traditionally attributed to the sorcery of Morgan le Fay.
	encarta.msn.com /Fata_Morgana.html (86 words)

	Fata Morgana & Lessons of Darkness (Werner Herzog, 1971 & 1992) (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-10)
		Primarily a visual experience, Fata Morgana begins with a shot of a mirage which Herzog explains can be captured on film and was only a vision created by the extreme heat.
		They are filmed the same as the mirages and sand - an equal part of this strange land which he has brought to us in a film so strange and audacious that only one man could have filmed it.
		The science fiction description of Fata Morgana is even more fitting here as the oil-drenched, fire-ridden landscape of Kuwait resemble a war zone on some far away planet.
	www.cinematicreflections.com /LessonsofDarkness&FataMorgana.html (634 words)

	Search Results for "Mirage"
		mirage, (mirazh´) (KEY), atmospheric optical illusion in which an observer sees in the distance a nonexistent body of water or an image, sometimes distorted, of...
		A mirage is also partially the result of internal reflection.
		Refraction also plays an important role in the formation of a mirage and other optical illusions.
	www.bartleby.com /cgi-bin/texis/webinator/sitesearch?FILTER=col65&query=Mirage (141 words)

	The Fata Morgana Effect: Interesting Thing of the Day
		Fata Morgana is the Italian name for Morgan le Fay, the half-sister of King Arthur in Arthurian legend.
		The fata morgana effect was so named for the superstitious belief among sailors that she created illusory visions to lure men into a false port and to their death.
		Technically, fata morganas are a type of mirage, related to those visions of water in the desert, or less exotically, to those seeming pools of water on the highway on a hot day.
	itotd.com /articles/583/the-fata-morgana-effect (1195 words)

	Earth Curvature and Atmospheric Refraction across Monterey Bay
		The Fata Morgana creates the appearance of tall cliffs along the shoreline, even where the cliffs would not be noticeable.
		Fata Morgana is the inverse, with cool at the bottom, and reflection from above the observer's level.
		Fata Morgana is an extreme case of the region's normal inversion.
	www.icogitate.com /~ergosum/essays/vtth/viewtothehorizon.htm (3281 words)

	[No title] (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-10)
		“The fata morgana, which produces exaggerated images of ordinary objects, is seen most often in the Strait of Messina, between Sicily and Italy, and also frequently over the Great Lakes in the United States,” Cole added.
		According to the Alaska Science Forum website, Fata Morgana, also known as Morgan le Fay, was a fairy enchantress skilled in the art of changing shape.
		A fata morgana actually is a superposition of several images of one object.
	www.go.co.za /2006/05/04/news/fata.html (428 words)

	Fata Morgana — FactMonster.com
		Fata is Italian for a “fairy,” and the fairy Morgana was the sister of Arthur and pupil of Merlin.
		mirage - mirage mirage, atmospheric optical illusion in which an observer sees in the distance a...
		Fata Morgana - Fata Morgana A sort of mirage occasionally seen in the Straits of Messina.
	www.factmonster.com /dictionary/brewers/fata-morgana.html (181 words)

	FATA MORGANA - Paranormal Phenomena (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-10)
		The fata morgana mirage is one that can occur only where there are alternating warm and cold layers of air near the ground or water surface.
		This mirage sometimes appears to be a castle or a city floating on the sea.
		The fata morgana mirage is named after Morgan La Fay, the enchantress who was the half-sister of King Arthur.
	phatbowling.com /mapit/FATA_MORGANA - !http://phatbowling.com/mapit/FATA_MORGANA (816 words)

	AMS Glossary
		—A mirage, but the specific physical circumstances under which fata morgana should be applied to a particular sighting are ill-defined.
		Indeed, the mirage's eponym is the fairy Morgan, the legendary half-sister of King Arthur, whose magical powers enabled her to create castles in the air (“fata“ is Italian for “fairy“).
		Indeed, most cases of the fata morgana are undoubtedly multiple- image superior mirages, sometimes with marked magnification, sometimes complicated by periodic inhomogeneities, sometimes augmented by an inferior mirage.
	amsglossary.allenpress.com /glossary/search?id=fata-morgana1 (190 words)

	World Adventurer \| Fata Morgana and the legend of Ultima Thule
		Fata Morgana and the legend of Ultima Thule
		Thule is located in the northernmost region of Greenland and the sailors who witnessed these incredible sights were under the spell of another very real phenomenon, the Fata Morgana, named after the fabled medieval enchantress.
		“The Fata Morgana mirage only occurs where alternating warm and cold layers of air exist near the ground or water surface, “ explains T. Neil Davis, a seismologist with the Geophysical Institute at the University of Alaska, “Instead of travelling straight through these layers, light is bent towards the colder, hence denser, air.
	www.worldadventurer.net /issue1/morgana.html (382 words)

	PHYS1330 Mirages (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-10)
		In the refraction module it was stated that the index of refraction of air at standard temperature (22° C) and pressure (1 ATM) is 1.00029.
		Mirages are a result of refraction occuring as light passes from one layer of air into another.
		Also called a Fata Morgana, islands in the sky are examples.
	www.physics.utoledo.edu /~lsa/_color/12_mirages.htm (627 words)

	ZDF Enterprises - Programmvertrieb - Katalog International - Documentaries - Terra X: Fata Morgana - Naturwunder und ... (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-10)
		Fata Morgana is the Italian name for a mirage that frequently appears in the Strait of Messina, between Italy and Sicily.
		In fact the figure behind the name Fata Morgana is Morrigan, the Celtic goddess of war.
		Scientific experiments are shown to demonstrate the way a mirage can develop, and the film indicates how the Fata Morgana can continue to bewitch men, to deceive them and to lead them to their deaths.
	www.zdf-enterprises.de /de/terra_x_fata_morgana_naturwunder_und_zauberspuk.4814.htm (241 words)

	The University of Sydney-Faculty of Architecture-Staff
		In Fata Morgana the bridge is seen as a symbol of this unification, but also of the wished-for, and still elusive, dream of a united Europe.
		Like a mirage, the image constantly transforms as it dances on the waves and dissolves into blurred fragments of light - a mass of moving patterns in which, as the water stills, we momentarily glimpse what we wish to see - a unified picture of a united Europe.
		Fata Morgana is an arc of light which reaches through the depth of the water to join and unify the river-banks.
	wwwfaculty.arch.usyd.edu.au /web/staff/homepages/tomheneghan.html (3747 words)

	Fata Morgana: Free Encyclopedia Articles at Questia.com Online Library
		Since "porta morgana" puns with "fata morgana," initially "la Parola"--with its equally overbrimming signification--is linked to distortion, insubstantiality, illusoriness...
		Instead of going ahead with a dangerous fata morgana of a European Union stretching from Portugal to the borders of Iraq, one should offer Turkey membership in the European...
		The strange phenomenon known as the fata morgana Ital.,=Morgan le Fay, of the Arthurian legend, the supposed author of the mirage is a complex mirage especially in...
	www.questia.com /library/encyclopedia/fata-morgana.jsp?l=F&p=1 (1147 words)

	Fata Morgana at AllExperts
		* a fata morgana, a mirage and optical phenomenon
		* "Fata Morgana", a humorous, somewhat bumbling witch character in an 1919 absurdist opera by Sergei Prokofiev, The Love for Three Oranges.
		* Fata Morgana, a 1977 crime novel by William Kotzwinkle.
	en.allexperts.com /e/f/fa/fata_morgana.htm (354 words)

	(GCQHZG) Denali's Transformation--Fata Morgana by Cav Scout
		The Fata Morgana will be best viewed across cook inlet on one of those crisp, cold, winter mornings Denali is visible.
		As described by T. Neil Davis in the Alaska Science Forum September 1, 1978-- Fata Morgana, also known as Morgan le Fay, was a fairy enchantress skilled in the art of changing shape.
		Fata Morgana's are usually seen after a cold night.
	www.geocaching.com /seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=d2ba7b10-6e33-4d2f-9af4-4c06849c5657 (1428 words)

	Boing Boing: Yet another Antarctiblog: Aventures au Pole Sud
		Today at lunch, we had the chance to see a very cool atmospheric optical effect at the horizon called "fata morgana".
		"Fata Morgana is Italian for "Fairy Morgan", and as legend goes was the half-sister of King Arthur.
		This causes a mirage which makes an object (here just snow at the horizon) appear larger or more elevated than it really is. In this case, it appears as a cliff at the horizon, as if a giant iceberg had suddenly moved it.
	www.boingboing.net /2006/03/11/yet_another_antarcti.html (363 words)

	[No title]
		This vision is named the Fata Morgana after King Arthur’s half sister, the fairy Morgan le Fay, who according to legend lived in a shining palace beneath the sea.
		The mirage is caused by images of rippling waves and sometimes a combination of the sea and distant buildings, cliffs, and trees, all distorted by layers of hot and cold air over the channel.
		For instance, the Silent City of Alaska surfaces every year on the Muir Glacier, and is claimed by some to be a long-distance mirage of Bristol, England (which is actually 2,500 miles away).
	library.thinkquest.org /C003603/english/phenomena/fatamorgana.shtml (295 words)

	Fata Morgana Mirage (at wongaBlog) (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-10)
		Named after Arthurian antagonist Morgana Le Fay, whose home was a floating castle, the mirage creates the appearance of large structures floating in the air.
		The effect is rarely smooth and commonly results in objects becoming stretched both horizontally and vertically, resulting in what look like spires and towers, hence the Morgana Le Fay link.
		It’s an example of a superior mirage - superior meaning that the false image is above the actual image - an effect which can be seen at sunrise/sunset, when the sun is visible for a couple of minutes when really below the horizon.
	wongablog.co.uk /2006/05/29/fata-morgana-mirage (477 words)

	An Example of a "Fata Morgana" Mirage in the Straits of Messina Giclee Print by J.w. Whimper at AllPosters.com
		An Example of a "Fata Morgana" Mirage in the Straits of Messina Giclee Print by J.w.
		An Example of a "Fata Morgana" Mirage in the Straits of Messina by J.w.
		An Example of a "Fata Morgana" Mirage in the Straits of Messina
	www.allposters.com /-sp/An-Example-of-a-Fata-Morgana-Mirage-in-the-Straits-of-Messina-Posters_i1882930_.htm (164 words)

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