Inferior Mirage_Moray Firth_Scotland_(IMG_7442e)

            The photograph shows an Inferior Mirage of a distant snow-covered coastline of northeast Scotland, looking roughly west-northwest across the Moray Firth through a telephoto lens from the town of Buckie on the Moray coast. Notice the mirror-image of the coastline in a narrow horizontal strip just above the horizon.

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A mirage is an optical phenomenon, involving at least one inverted image, produced when light is refracted, or bent, by passing through layers of air of different temperature / density.

The photograph was taken from the coast at the town of Buckie, in Moray, Scotland, looking roughly west-northwest over the waters of the outer Moray Firth. The camera was located around 9 metres A.M.S.L. A mirage is a small, distant phenomenon and the photo was taken through a zoom lens set to a focal length of 283 mm. The image has also been cropped and contrast enhanced by adjusting dark and light areas.

The type of mirage here is an 'inferior mirage'. The term 'inferior' denotes that the miraged image is below the normal image. An 'inferior mirage' occurs when there is a strong vertical temperature gradient near the ground surface, with warmer air at the surface (in this case at the sea surface) and cooler air above. When the photo was taken (11.26 a.m. on 7th February 2024) the air temperature was 1 to 2 degrees Celsius and the sea surface temperature of the Moray Firth was around 7 degrees Celsius.

An inferior mirage is formed by rays of light from distant objects being refracted as they pass through the strong temperature gradient and bent upwards towards the cooler, denser air. To the observer, the miraged image is displaced downwards and appears lower than the normal image. The miraged image is also inverted.

So, the photograph here shows the normal upright image of the distant snow-covered coastline merged with an upside-down mirror-image of part of it below, in a narrow strip just above the apparent horizon. The horizontal level where the normal upright image folds over to an inverted, miraged image is known as the 'fold-line'. It's also known as the 'vanishing line' because the mirage obscures the actual terrain behind it. The apparently choppy sea horizon here is, in fact, the lower edge of the mirage rather than the true geometric horizon.

Taken in: UK / Scotland / Buckie (show map)

Taken on: February 7, 2024

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mirage

inferior mirage

optical phenomenon more » $Everybody's photos tagged with refraction$ refraction $Everybody's photos tagged with atmospheric refraction$ atmospheric refraction

sea

Moray Firth

water

Scotland

Moray

Buckie

miraged

horizon

telephoto

cropped $Everybody's photos tagged with refracted$ refracted

seascape

seaview

coast

coastal

coastline

fold-line

vanishing line

mirror-image « less

Sets appears in: • Scotland • Mirages

Groups appears in: • Seas, Oceans, Rivers and sun • Water (and things) more » • Science in pictures • fata morgana • optical phenomena « less

Camera: Canon EOS 6D Mark II, f/10.0, 1/640 sec, 283mm, ISO 160 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Canon EOS 6D Mark II
Lens:	EF70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS II USM
Aperture:	f/10.0
Exposure Time:	0.002 sec (1/640)
Focal Length:	283mm
ISO:	160
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	Off, Did not fire
Exposure Program:	Program AE
Exposure Mode:	Auto
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Auto
Color Space:	sRGB
Software:	Adobe Photoshop Elements 18.0 (Windows)
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