What to know about this ‘imminent’ ship

The photo of the cover of the floating ship caught everyone’s attention, as this huge cargo ship seems to simply be hovering over the water. What you are seeing is not just a mirage, but a superior mirage.

We all know a lower mirage that creates the appearance of an oasis in the desert. Both the lower and upper mirages involve air temperature and refracted (that is, curved) sunlight.

The lower mirage occurs when very hot air is on the surface with the coldest air above it. The sun’s rays are deflected by that warmer air and your eye “sees” an apparent image, which is actually just a reflection of the sky above.

Here is a picture showing “water” that appears to be on the hot road on the way, but it really isn’t – it’s just the sky above.

You would think that around here with our warm pavement, we would see MANY of them in the summer!

A higher mirage occurs when, instead of having warmer air on the surface, there is cooler air on the surface and hot air above it. The light is curved upwards instead of downwards, so the mirage occurs above the ground and not on the surface:

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If the object of a higher mirage is within your line of sight, or at / above the horizon, that object will appear upside down.

However, if the object is below the horizon, it will appear in an upright position. This is called an “imminent” mirage:

Getting such a good photo is actually more rare than the mirages themselves. In fact, the sun itself causes a mirage every day at sunset and sunrise – when you see the full sun on the horizon, all or part of it is actually below the horizon. The light bends so far in the atmosphere that it makes the sun look full. You can explore this phenomenon more here.

Have a great week. We will have some warm changes in the coming days!

Frank

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