1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
|
---
title:
date: 2007-08-04T01:33:02Z
source: http://www.deputy-dog.com/?p=29
tags: weather, weird, science, environment
---
*(i’ve now added ball lightning to the list, you can see it at the
bottom)*
obviously, rainbows aren’t the only brilliant natural phenomena on
earth.
below are some optical phenomena, atmospheric phenomena, electrical
phenomena and natural optical illusions and they’re all incredible for
one reason or another.
if you know of others worth a mention, let me know and i’ll add ‘em.
**green flash**
[](/web/20070705212727/http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1034/692779753_390a5f6ba9_o.gif)
a green flash is a natural optical phenomenon and can be sometimes seen
above the sun as it sets or rises. the reason for this event lies in
refraction of light in the atmosphere ([read more
here](/web/20070705212727/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_flash)).
i’m yet to see a decent video of a green flash so won’t even bother
posting a shit one. instead, you should visit [this
website](/web/20070705212727/http://www.exo.net/~pauld/physics/atmospheric_optics/green_flash.html)
and learn using your mind.
**crepuscular rays**
[](/web/20070705212727/http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1316/692779795_d7bd9aa2c8.jpg?v=0)
[](/web/20070705212727/http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1386/696042124_74090cdf36.jpg?v=0)
crepuscular rays are shards of sunlight that shoot out from behind
objects that cast a shadow, usually trees or clouds, causing columns of
light to eerily light up the landscape.
check out the short clip below. a road never looked so attractive.
**mirages**
[](/web/20070705212727/http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1362/692779779_4303a7e704.jpg?v=0)
another of the more common optical phenomena, mirages are caused by
[refraction](/web/20070705212727/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Refraction).
there are also 2 types of mirage: inferior and superior.
with an inferior mirage, the actual mirage is mirrored from above (e.g.
seeing the sky on the road)
with a superior mirage, the mirage image appears *above* the true
object. these are less common.
a more detailed eplanation can be digested
[here](/web/20070705212727/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirage).
below: an example of an inferior mirage
**sprites**
sprites are relatively new discoveries and are still the subject of much
scientific debate. along with blue jets and elves they form a group of
occurences named transient luminous events and are electric discharges
that occur high above active thunderstorms.
best of all they look like some kind of massive electrical jellyfish.
[](/web/20070705212727/http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1438/694543148_bc5a2dbaa2.jpg?v=0)[](/web/20070705212727/http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1419/694543152_2dcade385a.jpg?v=0)
due to the fact that these events only last for milliseconds and aren’t
exactly easily spotted, there are very few videos to watch. the youtube
clip below was captured using an image intensified camera, bear in mind
that the brightest parts of the effect are around 70km above land.
alternatively go
[here](/web/20070705212727/http://www.livescience.com/php/video/player.php?video_id=080607sprites)
and watch an amazing clip in colour.
- *more on this
phenomenon*[*here*](/web/20070705212727/http://www.spritesandjets.com/index.htm)*.*
**gravity wave**
‘In a gravity wave, the upward moving region is the most favorable
region for cloud development and the sinking region favorable for clear
skies. That is why you may see rows of clouds and clear areas between
the rows of clouds. A gravity wave is nothing more than a wave moving
through a stable layer of the atmosphere. Thunderstorm updrafts will
produce gravity waves as they try to punch into the tropopause. The
tropopause represents a region of very stable air. This stable air
combined with the upward momentum of a thunderstorm updraft (trigger
mechanism) will generate gravity waves within the clouds trying to push
into the tropopause.’ - from
[here](/web/20070705212727/http://www.theweatherprediction.com/habyhints/64/).
that’s exactly what i was gonna say.
[](/web/20070705212727/http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1153/694710902_d2ea69ea97.jpg?v=0)
the photo above shows atmospheric gravity waves as seen from space. the
amazing timelapse video below shows the phenomenon from ground level in
iowa.
**halo / sundog**
[](/web/20070705212727/http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1014/693312227_8daafa51d0.jpg?v=0)
the incredible halo in the photo above is a 22 degree sun halo and is
one of the more common atmospheric phenomena, apparently caused by
refraction in the hexagonal ice crystals in the air. sun dogs (aka
parhelia) are the brighter parts of the halo, usually seen on each
horizontal point of the halo.
there’s a more detailed explanation, with diagrams,
[here](/web/20070705212727/http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/atmos/halo22.html).
**aurora borealis**
[](/web/20070705212727/http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1326/692936937_aca05ba861.jpg?v=0)
mainly thanks to youtube this phenomenon has gained a huge amount of
coverage in the last couple of years. even so, it’s not something you
could ever grow tired of watching. if you’ve never seen it, watch the
video below.
the explanation?
‘The sun gives off high-energy charged particles (also called ions) that
travel out into space at speeds of 300 to 1200 kilometres per second. A
cloud of such particles is called a plasma. The stream of plasma coming
from the sun is known as the solar wind. As the solar wind interacts
with the edge of the earth’s magnetic field, some of the particles are
trapped by it and they follow the lines of magnetic force down into the
ionosphere, the section of the earth’s atmosphere that extends from
about 60 to 600 kilometres above the earth’s surface. When the particles
collide with the gases in the ionosphere they start to glow, producing
the spectacle that we know as the auroras, northern and southern.’ -
from [virtual
finland](/web/20070705212727/http://virtual.finland.fi/finfo/English/aurora_borealis.html)
**brocken spectre**
[](/web/20070705212727/http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1237/694133854_6084a05d45.jpg?v=0)[](/web/20070705212727/http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1400/696250597_199219aa72.jpg?v=0)
see the halo in the photos above? the shadow in the middle is actually
cast by the person taking the photograph at the top of the hill, the
effect a rare one that goes by the name of brocken spectre. in order to
create this effect you must be looking down into mist from the peak of a
hill with a low sun behind you.
simple stuff.
the guy in the video below managed to catch a rare glimpse of the effect
on film. it occurs about half way through.
**moonbow**
[](/web/20070705212727/http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1240/695504501_298d0a5e8a.jpg?v=0)
moonbows are the darker, less frequent relative of our old favourite,
the rainbow. the ingredients needed: a very bright moon, rain and some
luck.
there’s a brief article from new scientist
[here](/web/20070705212727/http://www.newscientist.com/blog/space/2007/05/somewhere-over-moonbow.html)
and a grainy video clip below.
**gravity hills / electric brae**
a slightly different ‘phenomena’ from the rest, the electric brae in
[maybole](/web/20070705212727/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_Brae),
scotland is one of a number of locations throughout the world known as
‘gravity hills’. it’s a stretch of angled road where vehicles
‘mysteriously’ roll uphill, the real explanation owing to the fact that
the surrounding landscape sits in such a way as to give the illusion
that the road is sloping in the opposite direction.
i’ve personally been to the one in the clip below and it’s pretty
fucking weird even if you know the reasons behind it.
at [this wiki
page](/web/20070705212727/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravity_hill)
there’s a list of all known gravity hills in the world.
**ball lightning**
ball lightning is an atmospheric phenomenon that is still disputed by
many people, mainly due to the lack of quality footage and research, but
also because of it’s behaviour. rather than striking quickly, ball
lightning can apparently last for a much longer time. there’s a
brilliant page dedicated to the phenomenon
[here](/web/20070705212727/http://amasci.com/tesla/ballgtn.html).
the video below shows a mean looking storm, the ball lighting appears
about 2 minutes in. it’s well worth a look.
*Bookmark to:*\
[](/web/20070705212727/http://del.icio.us/post?url=http://www.deputy-dog.com/?p=29&title=10+of+the+best+natural+phenomena "Add '10 of the best natural phenomena' to Del.icio.us")[](/web/20070705212727/http://digg.com/submit?phase=2&url=http://www.deputy-dog.com/?p=29&title=10+of+the+best+natural+phenomena "Add '10 of the best natural phenomena' to digg")[](/web/20070705212727/http://furl.net/storeIt.jsp?t=10+of+the+best+natural+phenomena&u=http://www.deputy-dog.com/?p=29 "Add '10 of the best natural phenomena' to FURL")[](/web/20070705212727/http://blinklist.com/index.php?Action=Blink/addblink.php&Name=10+of+the+best+natural+phenomena&Description=10+of+the+best+natural+phenomena&Url=http://www.deputy-dog.com/?p=29 "Add '10 of the best natural phenomena' to blinklist")[](/web/20070705212727/http://reddit.com/submit?url=http://www.deputy-dog.com/?p=29&title=10+of+the+best+natural+phenomena "Add '10 of the best natural phenomena' to reddit")[](/web/20070705212727/http://feedmelinks.com/categorize?from=toolbar&op=submit&name=10+of+the+best+natural+phenomena&url=http://www.deputy-dog.com/?p=29&version=0.7 "Add '10 of the best natural phenomena' to Feed Me Links")[](/web/20070705212727/http://www.technorati.com/faves?add=http://www.deputy-dog.com/?p=29 "Add '10 of the best natural phenomena' to Technorati")[](/web/20070705212727/http://myweb2.search.yahoo.com/myresults/bookmarklet?u=http://www.deputy-dog.com/?p=29&t=10+of+the+best+natural+phenomena "Add '10 of the best natural phenomena' to Yahoo My Web")[](/web/20070705212727/http://www.newsvine.com/_wine/save?u=http://www.deputy-dog.com/?p=29&h=10+of+the+best+natural+phenomena "Add '10 of the best natural phenomena' to Newsvine")[](/web/20070705212727/http://ekstreme.com/socializer/?url=http://www.deputy-dog.com/?p=29&title=10+of+the+best+natural+phenomena "Add '10 of the best natural phenomena' to Socializer")[](/web/20070705212727/http://ma.gnolia.com/bookmarklet/add?url=http://www.deputy-dog.com/?p=29&title=10+of+the+best+natural+phenomena&description=10+of+the+best+natural+phenomena "Add '10 of the best natural phenomena' to Ma.gnolia")[](/web/20070705212727/http://www.stumbleupon.com/refer.php?url=http://www.deputy-dog.com/?p=29&title=10+of+the+best+natural+phenomena "Add '10 of the best natural phenomena' to Stumble Upon")[](/web/20070705212727/http://www.google.com/bookmarks/mark?op=edit&output=popup&bkmk=http://www.deputy-dog.com/?p=29&title=10+of+the+best+natural+phenomena "Add '10 of the best natural phenomena' to Google Bookmarks")\
[](/web/20070705212727/http://www.rawsugar.com/tagger/?turl=http://www.deputy-dog.com/?p=29&tttl=10+of+the+best+natural+phenomena "Add '10 of the best natural phenomena' to RawSugar")[](/web/20070705212727/http://www.squidoo.com/lensmaster/bookmark?http://www.deputy-dog.com/?p=29 "Add '10 of the best natural phenomena' to Squidoo")[](/web/20070705212727/http://www.spurl.net/spurl.php?url=http://www.deputy-dog.com/?p=29&title=10+of+the+best+natural+phenomena "Add '10 of the best natural phenomena' to Spurl")[](/web/20070705212727/http://blinkbits.com/bookmarklets/save.php?v=1&source_url=http://www.deputy-dog.com/?p=29&title=10+of+the+best+natural+phenomena "Add '10 of the best natural phenomena' to BlinkBits")[](/web/20070705212727/http://netvouz.com/action/submitBookmark?url=http://www.deputy-dog.com/?p=29&title=10+of+the+best+natural+phenomena&popup=no "Add '10 of the best natural phenomena' to Netvouz")[](/web/20070705212727/http://www.rojo.com/add-subscription/?resource=http://www.deputy-dog.com/?p=29 "Add '10 of the best natural phenomena' to Rojo")[](/web/20070705212727/http://blogmarks.net/my/new.php?mini=1&simple=1&url=http://www.deputy-dog.com/?p=29&title=10+of+the+best+natural+phenomena "Add '10 of the best natural phenomena' to Blogmarks")[](/web/20070705212727/http://www.shadows.com/shadows.aspx?url=http://www.deputy-dog.com/?p=29 "Add '10 of the best natural phenomena' to Shadows")[](/web/20070705212727/http://www.simpy.com/simpy/LinkAdd.do?href=http://www.deputy-dog.com/?p=29&title=10+of+the+best+natural+phenomena "Add '10 of the best natural phenomena' to Simpy")[](/web/20070705212727/http://co.mments.com/track?url=http://www.deputy-dog.com/?p=29&title=10+of+the+best+natural+phenomena "Add '10 of the best natural phenomena' to Co.mments")[](/web/20070705212727/http://www.scuttle.org/bookmarks.php/maxpower?action=add&address=http://www.deputy-dog.com/?p=29&title=10+of+the+best+natural+phenomena&description=10+of+the+best+natural+phenomena "Add '10 of the best natural phenomena' to Scuttle")[](/web/20070705212727/http://www.bloglines.com/sub/http://www.deputy-dog.com/?p=29 "Add '10 of the best natural phenomena' to Bloglines")[](/web/20070705212727/http://tailrank.com/share/?title=10+of+the+best+natural+phenomena&link_href=http://www.deputy-dog.com/?p=29 "Add '10 of the best natural phenomena' to Tailrank")
|
