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superior mirage
A superior image of a cargo ship. Hover the cursor over the image to view the ship without its mirrored image. Superior mirages are caused when the air close to the surface is colder than the air above. Light rays traveling from an object to the eye through the atmosphere are bent down when the density of the air increases downward. In this way, the light rays that hit the eye from above will create a second, inverted image of the object above the normal image.

[Still taken from Les mirages, Histoires de chimères et de la fée Morgane, a documentary film by Michael ENGLER, broadcast by Arte on April 18, 1998. Copies of this remarkable film can be purchased at : http://www.zdf-enterprises.de. Image-over script by Chris POOLE]