Mirage on Lake Konigssee
March 29, 2007
Provided by: Claudia Hinz, AKM e.V.
Summary authors & editors: Claudia Hinz
The photo above shows an inferior mirage on Lake Konigssee in Bavaria, Germany . October 13th, 2006, was a sunny and very warm autumn day. We had planned to spend the day hiking near the Konigssee. However, we didn't get very far because the scene over this quite cold and deeply shielded mountain lake was so entrancing because of the numerous mirages. It was really fascinating to pursue the fast changing mirages.
With an inferior mirage, the image of a distant object is always displaced downward -- a ray of light traveling through the air will be bent or refracted upward. Where the thermal gradients are strongest, the light rays are more noticeably bent (light refracts toward the more dense medium).
Related Links: