Created by : Fachmi Erin Meirsa Sawitri Nikmatul Maula Yusuf Zihni

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What is Mirage?
A mirage is a naturally occuring optical phenomenon in which light rays are bent to produce a displaced image of distant object or the sky.

How Do Mirages Form

Normally, light waves from the sun travel straight through the atmosphere to your eye. But, light travels at

different speeds through hot air and cold air.

Mirages happen when the ground is very hot and the air is cool. The hot ground warms a layer of air just above the ground. When the light moves through the cold air and into the layer of hot air it is refracted(bent).

 A layer of very warm air near the ground refracts the

light from the sky nearly into a U-shaped bend. Our

brain thinks the light has travelled in a straight line. Our brain doesn't see the image as bent light from the sky. Instead, our brain thinks the light must have come from something on the ground.

Kind of Mirage
Inferior Mirages Superior Mirages

Inferior Mirage
An inferior image is a type of mirage where an image appears to be below a real object. A common example would be a desert mirage, where the viewer thinks that

theres an oasis on the horizon. This is caused because

sand tends to heat up quickly, so the air around the sand is hot and the air above it is cooler. The image youre actually seeing is actually the sky, which is why it looks like water.

Superior Mirage
A superior image is the opposite case, where the image appears above the horizon. This is caused by whats called a temperature inversion, where hot air exists

above cold air. This tends to be more common at sea.