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Credit & Copyright: Tamas Ladanyi
(TWAN)
Explanation:
The city of Veszprem, Hungary was only briefly haunted by
this mysterious spectre.
On the morning of August 11, its monstrous form hovered
in the mist above municipal buildings near the town center.
A clue
to its true identity is offered by the photographer, though,
who reports he took the picture from the top of a twenty story building
with the rising Sun directly at his back.
That special geometry suggests this is an example of
an atmospheric phenomenon called
the Glory or sometimes
"the
Spectre of the Brocken".
Also seen from mountain tops and airplanes when looking opposite
the Sun, the dramatic apparition is the observer's shadow on
clouds or fog, the small droplets of water scattering
light back towards the Sun through
complex
internal reflections.
Careful night sky watchers can also encounter this spectre's analog
in astronomy, a brightening of zodiacal light opposite the Sun
known as the gegenschein.
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NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: halo
Publications with words: halo
See also: