Mirage

This article is about mirage, an optical phenomenom. For other meanings, see Mirage (disambiguation).

A mirage is an optical phenomenon which often occurs naturally. The kind most commonly seen (known as inferior mirage, because the inverted image lies below the erect one) is produced by the refraction of light when it passes into a layer of warm air lying close to a heated ground surface. This is an example of gradient index optics. Example images of inferior mirages

Road mirage Inferior mirage Imagine reflected from below

In deserts, mirages may give the appearance of a lake or other large body of water in the distance; this is actually an image of the sky being refracted back up from the warm air lying over the sand. On tarmacked roads, mirages give the impression of puddles of water in the distance.

More spectacular mirages (superior mirages) are produced by a temperature inversion near eye level. In these, the inverted image lies above the erect one; and there may even be several alternating layers of erect and inverted images. These are known as the Fata Morgana.

Example images of Superior mirages
(Temperature inversions over cold Lake Superior)

	Land/trees at horizon Tree shown which are normally invisible below horizon Superior mirage reflected from above
	Mirage of ore ship (Uncertain effect)
	Sunrise first light Super-refracted sunlight
	Sunrise over sea Double sun image: ABOVE: Superior mirage BELOW: super-refracted sun

Mirage

Mirage is also the name of a one-off character from Static Shock.