Mirages in the Ocean?

Mirages in the Ocean? 

Last night after dinner the crew suffered a bit of an embarrassing setback. We came up onto the deck and saw an overturned sailing ship a few miles up ahead. The whole crew jumped into action because we knew someone's life could be on the line! As we made our way to this unknown ship, one of the crew members alerted us that there was a chance this ship was Telefonica, which had been sailing incredibly close to us all day. Rushing to aid our fellow racers, we never noticed that we weren't getting any closer to this overturned boat! It took us a while to realize we were following a mirage, a Fata Morgana mirage of a different ship, to be exact.

Mirages: The original trolls.

We fell for the oldest trick in the book. Mirages have been tricking sailors for centuries. Ever heard of the legend of the Flying Dutchman? Before mirages became a well-known phenomenon, legends about a ghost ship in the sky were actually very common. 


Slightly embarrassed, the crew decided to look up mirages at our media centre to make sure this kind of setback never occurred again. There was a lot of confusing information, but we gained some understanding that will definitely help our sailing in the future. You see, mirages are a result of refraction, or the bending of light (light bends by the way). Combine that with a gradient of different air temperatures, and you have a mirage! Yesterday was a hot day, perfect for a Fata Morgana mirage. Here's how a mirage works:

Extremely technical mirage diagram

As you can see, a mirage easily explains the Flying Dutchman myth, as well as our panic last night. Fata Morganas are a type of superior mirage, the type of mirage that occurs when cold air lies beneath warm air, in what is called a temperature inversion. This causes light rays to bend toward the colder air, which makes the object appear elevated and inverted. This happens because our brains process the information as if the light rays were straight, when in fact they have bent downward. So, fellow racers and sailing enthusiasts, next time you see an upside-down boat, go help! But check to make sure it isn't floating in the sky, too.

References:

Heidorn, K.. "The Superior Mirage: Seeing Beyond." Weather doctor. N.p., 1999. Web. 30 May 2012. <http://www.islandnet.com/~see/weather/elements/supmrge.htm>.


Young, A.. "An Introduction to Mirages." An introduction to mirages. N.p., 2011. Web. 30 May 2012. <http://mintaka.sdsu.edu/GF/mirages/mirintro.html>.


6. Nave, R.. "Refraction of light." Hyperphysics. Hyperphysics, 2012. Web. 30 May 2012. <http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/geoopt/refr.html>.