Incredible mirage at Norah head

[tornado33]

Hi all
Yesterday with a mate we witnessed the most amazing thing, Sydney hovering in the waters south of Norah head lighthouse, even though it should be below the horizon from there.
http://www.users.on.net/~josiah/temp/Sydney%20from%20norah%20head%20smal l.jpg
Could clearly see the buildings (and the airliner) through binoculars.
Image was taken at 9:26 AM yesterday from a point about 100 metres S of the lighthouse.
The effect seemed to be fading when we left about 1/2 later.
Scott

[iceman]

Amazing shot Scott, very strange effect.. you must've got some gravitational lensing effect somehow :D

[fringe_dweller]

And forever before me gleams,
The shining city of song,
In the beautiful land of dreams.
But when I would enter the gate
Of that golden atmosphere,
It is gone, and I wonder and wait
For the vision to reappear.

Fata Morgana by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

You saw a Fata Morgana

"Such mirages are caused by a temperature inversion, where cold dense air is trapped next to the ground under a layer of warmer air. A certain shape of temperature inversion will mean that light near the ground will be refracted in such a way that it travels in a curved path around the globe."

got info from here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fata_Morgana and here
http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/stories/s818193.htm thats cool Scott nice one :)
Cheers
kearn

[ballaratdragons]

That is truly amazing Scott!!!! Seeing Sydney from there! :eyepop:

I know that spot very well where you took the pic ! One of my favourite all-time locations. My parents live about 500m from there and every time I visit them I head straight for Norah Head Lighthouse and the immediate beaches (and those 20,000 steps going down!)

WOW! That is certainly a strange sight! Great catch!! :thumbsup:

[asimov]

Oh the joy's of 16 colour's vid card driver....I can see plenty of pretty colored dots....Ummm, well done.?:ashamed:

[cometcatcher]

That is quite amazing!

I'm used to over the horizon ducting with radio waves and always wanted to see the effect in the visible spectrum.

[MiG]

The fact that you are using a 16 colour video card is as amazing as the mirage!