{"id":20185,"date":"2018-02-08T00:00:49","date_gmt":"2018-02-08T08:00:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/?p=20185"},"modified":"2018-02-16T18:18:02","modified_gmt":"2018-02-17T02:18:02","slug":"february-8-2018-fata-morgana-distorted-sbi-from-sni","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/2018\/02\/08\/february-8-2018-fata-morgana-distorted-sbi-from-sni\/","title":{"rendered":"February 8, 2018 Fata Morgana — distorted SBI from SNI"},"content":{"rendered":"

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“Fata Morgana” is, according to Wikipedia, “an unusual and complex form of superior mirage that is seen in a narrow band right above the horizon.” Also from Wikipedia:<\/p>\n

“Fata Morgana mirages significantly distort the object or objects on which they are based, often such that the object is completely unrecognizable.”<\/p>\n

and<\/p>\n

“The optical phenomenon occurs because rays of light are bent when they pass through air layers of different temperatures in a steep thermal inversion where an atmospheric duct has formed.”<\/p>\n

It is not especially unusual to observe some weird effects of light refraction in the distance from San Nicolas Island. There is frequently a marine-related temperature inversion in the lowest several hundred feet above the ocean waters. Sometimes the distant islands and mainland mountains don’t look quite right, sometimes with flat tops like a mesa in Utah. If the inversion is especially low and strong, and visibilities are excellent, then the “Fata Morgana” phenomenon can be quite pronounced.<\/p>\n

On this day, late in the afternoon on San Nicolas Island, I noticed that Santa Barbara Island had a goofy look to it. The strong inversion was doing a number on the light! Santa Barbara Island is the closest landmass to San Nicolas Island, and is 30 miles to the northeast. Visibility was very good, following a morning of shallow fog banks above the coastal waters. I zoomed in with my 200mm lens on Santa Barbara Island and took the shot that you see here. About ten minutes later and from a slightly higher spot, the illusion, or effect, was not nearly as pronounced. \u00a0FYI, I was shooting from an elevation of about 500 feet above sea level, and the highest elevation of Santa Barbara Island is about 600 feet.<\/p>\n\n\t\t