Glory and Brocken Spectre Viewed from Samos Island, Greece

October 20, 2016

Glory (1)

Photographer: Manolis Thravalos
Summary Authors: Manolis Thravalos; Jim Foster
 
Earlier this month I was hiking a mountain on Samos Island, Greece (shown above), in order to put together a photo-travelogue of this area. While I was near the top, a blanket of fog rolled over the summit, and I soon observed the delightful glory and Brocken spectre shown at the bottom of the picture. The glory is simply the colorful rings, and the Brocken spectre is the projection of your shadow through the fog droplets. Both occur when sunlight is diffracted by the tiny droplets that compose the fog. Moreover, the droplets are approximately the same size as the wavelength of sunlight, so Mie scattering is also at work. Note you must have the Sun at your back to see these phenomena. The ruins of a medieval castle, the Castle of Loulouda, lie scattered on the steep hill across the valley.
 
Photo Details: Camera Model: NIKON D3200; Lens: 18.0-55.0 mm f/3.5-5.6; Focal Length: 18mm (35mm equivalent: 27mm); Aperture: ƒ/8.0; Exposure Time: 0.0050 s (1/200); ISO equiv: 100; Software: Adobe Photoshop CS6 (Windows).