Glory and Fog Bow

Glory and Fog Bow

Image and Video Credit &
Copyright:

Cem Özkeser and Yasin İlcebay

Explanation:

On a road trip up
Mount Uludağ
in Bursa province, Turkey
these motorcyclists found themselves above low clouds and fog
in late June.

With the bright Sun directly behind them, the view down the
side of the great mountain revealed a beautiful, atmospheric glory and
fog bow.

Known to some as the
heiligenschein
or the
Specter of the Brocken,
a glory can also sometimes be seen from airplanes or even high buildings.

It often appears to be a dark giant surrounded by a bright halo.

Of course the dark giant is just the
shadow of the observer (90MB video)
cast opposite the Sun.

The clouds and fog
are composed of very small water droplets,
smaller than rain drops, that refract and reflect sunlight
to create the glory’s colorful halo and this more extensive
fog bow.