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![]() | A fact from Fata Morgana (mirage) appeared on Wikipedia's
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Ok, is "Fata Morgana" the singular or plural form, and what's the other form? This article seems to shift back and forth as to whether it's singular or plural, and it's very disconcerting.-- Piledhigheranddeeper ( talk) 21:48, 6 April 2010 (UTC)
Is there a link to be made to Green flash? JMcC ( talk) 12:25, 2 October 2010 (UTC)
The Smithsonian Institution has gone on record stating that they believe that a Fata Morgana prevented the lookouts on the RMS Titanic from seeing the iceberg in time to avoid a collison, and also prevented the nearby SS Californian from realizing the ship on the horizon was the RMS Titanic and that it was sinking and sailing to their assistance, (although the crew on the SS Californian did see the Titanic's distress rockets and did not send a morse code message asking for a explanation for the rockets being fired into the night sky). Shouldn't the article on the Fata Morgana include a paragraph about the RMS Titanic with a reference to the Smithsonian Institution's findings. 204.80.58.133 ( talk) 20:14, 29 December 2014 (UTC)Bennett Turk
"Mergina" in Lithuanian means "a girl", "Veda" (sounds like Fata) in Lithuanian means "guides"...Guiding Girl
The first picture of the article ( /info/en/?search=Fata_Morgana_(mirage)#/media/File:Fata_Morgana_Example.jpg) does not seem to be a superior mirrror, but a simple mirror. It should be therefore removed unless it can be better explained. This article in fact missed a simple cartoon explaining the difference between both. Gaianauta ( talk) 08:52, 12 January 2017 (UTC)
No one has thought of using this term as a binomial, have they? Booger-mike ( talk) 01:19, 6 September 2020 (UTC)
Hello. I have just added to Commons three photos of FM mirages at/near Budle Bay, Northumberland, England on 16 April 2021. I think they show it quite well and although taken at the extreme setting of my lens they do depict it quite clearly. (300mm on MFT camera - similar to 600mm in old money!) I sometimes slightly hate the thing of people pushing their own work so I will first try leaving it to others to see if anyone thinks they are useful. Here they are, if I get the layout right:
Any use? Cheers DBaK ( talk) 14:24, 31 July 2021 (UTC)
I'm surprised the Cornwall image is still in here, since it has been thoroughly de-bunked. It is in fact a much simpler false horizon. Also surprisingly the BBC haven't removed their claims to this being to a Fata Morgana.
It's usually straightforward to recognise the difference. Fata Morgana images are heavily distorted due to the varying refractive index both spatially and temporally, whilst objects on false horizons show a much clearer, intact images. See also Cambridge Skeptics. Unless someone can suggest why it shouldn't be removed I will delete the Cornwall section.-- Andromedean ( talk) 12:36, 2 June 2022 (UTC)
In the text and the schematic diagram, it discussed that a FM mirage is caused by multiple REFRACTIONS. Accepting that, then, the image(s) will always be UPRIGHT. Whereas in a more "common" mirage, caused by total internal REFLECTION, the image is INVERTED (upside down). Thus, the container ship mirage, in which there SEEMS to be inversion, is not a FM, neither is the 19th century ship, which is entirely inverted. In fact on re-reading the explanation, it is not completely clear whether a FM is refraction-only inside the supposed "required" duct, or whether internal reflection is involved. So maybe a bit more clarity of explanation is required. 2001:8003:E40F:9601:F5FD:783C:E20F:2C2E ( talk) 09:40, 20 April 2024 (UTC)
So over ice or cold ground, you're going to have cold (more dense) air on the bottom and not so cold (less dense) above. In this case, the superior mirage is caused by refraction and is thus upright and there is not doubt that this is a Fata Morgana.
But...
Over hot ground, you're going to have cooler air (and thus denser) air above hotter (and thus less dense) air. Under those circumstances, a superior mirage is caused by total internal reflection at the boundary and is inverted (upside down). This APPEARS to be the cause of the pic of the 19th century ship. So if the mirage is superior but inverted, is that still a Fata Morgana? 2001:8003:E40F:9601:F5FD:783C:E20F:2C2E ( talk) 09:58, 20 April 2024 (UTC)