Atmospheric optics is "the study of the optical characteristics of the atmosphere or products of atmospheric processes .... [including] temporal and spatial resolutions beyond those discernible with the naked eye". Meteorological optics is "that part of atmospheric optics concerned with the study of patterns observable with the naked eye". Nevertheless, the two terms are sometimes used interchangeably.
Meteorological optical phenomena, as described in this article, are concerned with how the optical properties of Earth's atmosphere cause a wide range of optical phenomena and visual perception phenomena.
Examples of meteorological phenomena include:
The blue color of the sky. This is from Rayleigh scattering, which sends more higher frequency/shorter wavelength (blue) sunlight into the eye of an observer than other frequencies/wavelength.
The reddish color of the Sun when it is observed through a thick atmosphere, as during a sunrise or sunset. This is because long-wavelength (red) light is scattered less than blue light. The red light reaches the observer's eye, whereas the blue light is scattered out of the line of sight.
Other colours in the sky, such as glowing skies at dusk and dawn. These are from additional particulate matter in the sky that scatter different colors at different angles.
Halos, afterglows, coronas, polar stratospheric clouds, and sun dogs. These are from scattering, or refraction, by ice crystals and from other particles in the atmosphere. They depend on different particle sizes and geometries.
Mirages. These are optical phenomena in which light rays are bent due to thermal variations in the refractive index of air, producing displaced or heavily distorted images of distant objects. Other optical phenomena associated with this include the Novaya Zemlya effect, in which the Sun has a distorted shape and rises earlier or sets later than predicted. A spectacular form of refraction, called the Fata Morgana, occurs with a temperature inversion, in which objects on the horizon or even beyond the horizon (e.
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A mirage of an astronomical object is a meteorological optical phenomenon, in which light rays are bent to produce distorted or multiple images of an astronomical object. The mirages might be observed for such celestial objects as the Sun, the Moon, the planets, bright stars, and very bright comets. The most commonly observed of these are sunset and sunrise mirages. Mirages are distinguished from other phenomena caused by atmospheric refraction.
vignette|Parmi les phénomènes optiques atmosphériques, les aurores boréales sont connues pour leurs couleurs intenses et chatoyantes. Un phénomène optique est le nom générique donné à un événement observable résultant de l'interaction entre la lumière et la matière, ou du comportement de la lumière seule. La lumière est comprise comme le spectre électromagnétique dans le domaine optique, c'est-à-dire entre et . Ils peuvent être des effets très généraux et fondateurs, comme la diffraction ou la réfraction, ou bien être le résultat de plusieurs effets optiques combinés.
vignette|Fata Morgana du Phare des Baleines sur l'île de Ré, vu de La Tranche-sur-Mer vignette|upright=1.5|Une fata Morgana aperçue en 2005 sur la côte norvégienne. vignette|upright=1.5|Fata Morgana de la presqu’île de Quiberon (Morbihan, France) depuis la plage de Gavres (distance ). Une fata Morgana est un phénomène optique qui résulte d'une combinaison de mirages (perturbations des rayons lumineux au passage à travers un gradient thermique dans l'atmosphère).
Explore les nanotools d'origami ADN pour nanophotonique, en mettant l'accent sur le contrôle de la lumière à l'échelle nanométrique et les défis des percées technologiques.
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