The forces at work in nature can all, for the most part, be explained by science, but that doesn’t make them any less amazing when we get the rare opportunity to witness them with our own eyes.
Whatever your belief systems are about our universe, you can’t help but feel humbled by the wonders of nature that are an integral part of our existence. Here are 10 of our favorite natural phenomena and the explanations behind them. Feel free to consider them magic anyway, if you like. We sure do.
1. Red Rainbow
A red rainbow (also known as a monochrome rainbow) is just like a multi-colored rainbow, except only the red wavelengths are visible, sometimes lined with orange. This type of rainbow occurs close to sunrise or sunset, when the sun is closest to the horizon. This position scatters the shorter wavelengths of blue, green, and yellow because the sun’s light has a longer distance to travel, resulting in only red wavelengths being visible.
2. Crepuscular Rays
Crepuscular rays are a hypnotizing natural phenomenon, so seemingly divine that they are also known as “god rays.” Although it looks like these rays are emanating from the sun, they are actually parallel columns of sunlight bordered by darker areas in the shadows of clouds. Their convergence is an optical effect, much like a long winding road that seems to get thinner the further away it is.
3. Green Flash
A green flash is a somewhat rare occurrence at the very beginning of sunrise or the very end of sunset. As the sun emerges or sinks, a bright green flash appears at the height of the sphere. This happens because the atmosphere causes sunlight to separate into two colors for a split second.
4. Paraselene
Also known as a moondog or a mock moon, paraselene is the appearance of one or two bright spots to either side of the moon, particularly during a bright, full moon. It is caused by the refraction of the moon’s light by hexagonal ice crystals in cirrus and cirrostratus clouds.
5. Moonbow
Like a rainbow, a moonbow is formed by the refraction of light in water droplets, but these droplets are illuminated by the moon. They are typically not as bright as daytime rainbows, and can only occur when the moon is very low in a dark sky, there is rain falling opposite of the moon, and it is within 2-3 hours of moonrise or moonset.
6. Water Sky
Water sky is an interesting natural phenomenon in which low lying clouds over large areas of ice actually reflect where water lies, though it may appear as though water is nowhere in sight. Water sky is so reliable that many an early explorer used it as a means of navigation.
7. Cloud Iridescence
Like shimmering cellophane, cloud iridescence is the appearance of oily rainbows in flattened, wispy clouds with a great content of small water droplets or ice crystals at a high altitude. The size of the droplets or crystals are crucial to creating this effect; larger crystals go on to create haloes.
8. Light Pillars
Light pillars are an optical effect created by bright lights and frigid temperatures, as their existence begins with light being reflected off tiny ice crystals in the air. The light source does not have to be artificial — light pillars are formed by the sun and moon as well.
9. Parhelion
Also called “sun dogs,” a parhelion is the daytime version of a paraselene: one or more bright spots on either side of the sun, usually accompanied by a halo. Parhelia can be seen anywhere in the world in any season, so keep your eyes peeled for one!
10. Halo
A halo around the moon or sun is the result of ice crystals occurring in clouds in the upper troposphere interacting with the light. The crystals act as prisms and mirrors, which can sometimes cause light dispersion and a colored halo. The presence of crystals in these kinds of clouds signal an impending frontal system, so when you see a halo around the sun or moon, prepare for rain.
Featured Image from Silas Hao/Unsplash
