Day of autumn mirages

Fata Morgana, halo, belt of Venus, aurora, green ray These optical atmospheric phenomena, like mirages, have been observed by people for thousands of years They were the first to systematically record ghosts and phantoms in ship's logs of the early 19th century became sailors On the horizon, far from the ship, they saw other ships, cities with temples and castles In the desert on a windless sunny day, travelers observed mirages in the form of oases with shimmering ponds and lush treetops In honor of the miracle of nature that occurs in the atmosphere at the junction of layers of warm and cold air, an unusual holiday has been established October 27 is the Day of Autumn Mirages The natural phenomenon received a scientific explanation thanks to Gaspard Monge In 1799, the French mathematician went on a military campaign to Egypt along with the army of Napoleon Bonaparte On this journey, Monge observed desert mirages more than once The Egyptians considered them to be the ghost of a country that existed many years ago and left its wandering soul on earth Similar thoughts come to mind for travelers who observe the silhouette of a man on the peak or ridge of the Alps and Caucasus mountain ranges An optical illusion is indicated by the fact that the appearance of the Brocken Ghost is always associated with fog or large clouds G Monge explained the phenomenon of mirages in the form of villages and hills not by the other world, but by the laws of refraction and reflection of light Its rays bend in the optically inhomogeneous environment of the atmosphere, as if looking beyond the horizon The most strongly heated layer of air, located near the ground, becomes a mirror in which light is reflected and a mirage appears - a real area or object located in the distance The optical phenomenon has been observed in different parts of the world: in the Arctic and Antarctic, the Messianic Strait, located between the island of Sicily and the Italian mainland, Timbuktu in Mali and the Nullabor Plain in Australia The unusual sight amazes with beauty that takes your breath away The human brain perceives a mirage that appears on the horizon as a real object, which can lead people astray and lead to death The trembling and flickering of mountain ranges and palm groves is a sure sign that they are nothing more than an optical phenomenon In order to see Fata Morgana, you don’t have to go to the desert or go on a sea voyage The autumn weather of Central Russia and other regions is very changeable - night frosts are often replaced by the warmth of sunny days of Indian summer An ideal situation is emerging for the appearance of optical illusions - rivers and forests, cities and other objects appearing on the horizon In the Burzyansky district of Bashkiria near the village of Starosubkhangulovo in 2013, local residents saw a blue-green mirage - houses with clearly visible roofs and window openings, airplanes flying above them In the Samara Luka, the largest bend of the Volga, a church with domes that never existed in reality is often seen in the sky above the deserted Zelenenky Island On the opposite bank of the hand, between the Usinsky and Molodetsky mounds, residents see a white stone castle, decorated with flags, and its inhabitants peeking out from behind the walls As a rule, this phenomenon occurs at a time when fog falls on the ground, or there is a strong temperature difference in the layers of atmospheric air The changeability of the weather became the basis for celebrating the Day of Autumn Mirages at the end of October