Fata Morgana
Fata Morgana is the Italian name for Morgan le Fay, the half-sister of King Arthur in Arthurian legend. Reputedly a sorceress and able to change shape at will, Morgan le Fay was sometimes said to live below the sea in a crystal palace that could also rise above the surface. The fata morgana effect was so named for the superstitious belief among sailors that she created illusory visions to lure men into a false port and to their death. The term first entered English usage in 1818, when it was used to describe an occurrence of the phenomenon in the Strait of Messina, a narrow body of water between Sicily and the region of Calabria in southern Italy. The Effect here floats upside down a series of hills. The hills themselves rise perhaps 400 feet above the desert floor and they are 15 miles away. The effect was due to an atmospheric inversion that I could feel as I drove just a few feet down the road and down hill.
Seen here just off I-40 in November 2001 after the Leonid meteor shower. Looking east towards the Colorado River from Mitchell Caverns access road.
Fata Morgana is the Italian name for Morgan le Fay, the half-sister of King Arthur in Arthurian legend. Reputedly a sorceress and able to change shape at will, Morgan le Fay was sometimes said to live below the sea in a crystal palace that could also rise above the surface. The fata morgana effect was so named for the superstitious belief among sailors that she created illusory visions to lure men into a false port and to their death. The term first entered English usage in 1818, when it was used to describe an occurrence of the phenomenon in the Strait of Messina, a narrow body of water between Sicily and the region of Calabria in southern Italy. The Effect here floats upside down a series of hills. The hills themselves rise perhaps 400 feet above the desert floor and they are 15 miles away. The effect was due to an atmospheric inversion that I could feel as I drove just a few feet down the road and down hill. Seen here just off I-40 in November 2001 after the Leonid meteor shower. Looking east towards the Colorado River from Mitchell Caverns access road.
- Year: 2001
- Location: Mojave Desert Ca
- Camera: nikon f2
- Lens: 24 mm
- F Stop: ?
- ISO: 100?
- Shutter Speed: 1/100?
- Capture Method:
