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Created page with 'File:lighterstill.jpgright|frame ==Origin== French, from ''mirer'' to look at, from Latin ''mirari'' *[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/19th_century 1803...'
[[File:lighterstill.jpg]][[File:Mirage.jpg|right|frame]]
==Origin==
French, from ''mirer'' to look at, from [[Latin]] ''mirari''
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/19th_century 1803]
==Definitions==
*1: an [[optical]] [[effect]] that is sometimes seen at [[sea]], in the [[desert]], or over a hot pavement, that may have the [[appearance]] of a pool of [[water]] or a [[mirror]] in which distant objects are seen inverted, and that is caused by the bending or [[reflection]] of rays of [[light]] by a layer of heated [[air]] of varying [[density]]
*2: something [[illusory]] and unattainable like a ''mirage''
==Description==
A '''mirage''' is a naturally occurring optical [[phenomenon]] in which [[light]] rays are bent to produce a displaced [[image]] of distant objects or the [[sky]]. The word comes to [[English]] via the French mirage, from the Latin ''mirare'', [[meaning]] "to look at, to [[wonder]] at". This is the same root as for "[[mirror]]" and "to admire".
In contrast to a [[hallucination]], a mirage is a real optical phenomenon which can be captured on camera, since light rays actually are [[refracted]] to form the [[false]] image at the [[observer]]'s location. What the image appears to [[represent]], however, is determined by the [[interpretive]] faculties of the human [[mind]]. For example, inferior images on [[land]] are very easily mistaken for the reflections from a small body of [[water]].
Mirages can be categorized as "inferior" (meaning lower), "superior" (meaning higher) and "[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fata_Morgana_(mirage) Fata Morgana]", one kind of superior mirage consisting of a [[series]] of unusually elaborate, vertically-stacked images, which form one rapidly-changing mirage. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirage]
[[Category: Physics]]
==Origin==
French, from ''mirer'' to look at, from [[Latin]] ''mirari''
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/19th_century 1803]
==Definitions==
*1: an [[optical]] [[effect]] that is sometimes seen at [[sea]], in the [[desert]], or over a hot pavement, that may have the [[appearance]] of a pool of [[water]] or a [[mirror]] in which distant objects are seen inverted, and that is caused by the bending or [[reflection]] of rays of [[light]] by a layer of heated [[air]] of varying [[density]]
*2: something [[illusory]] and unattainable like a ''mirage''
==Description==
A '''mirage''' is a naturally occurring optical [[phenomenon]] in which [[light]] rays are bent to produce a displaced [[image]] of distant objects or the [[sky]]. The word comes to [[English]] via the French mirage, from the Latin ''mirare'', [[meaning]] "to look at, to [[wonder]] at". This is the same root as for "[[mirror]]" and "to admire".
In contrast to a [[hallucination]], a mirage is a real optical phenomenon which can be captured on camera, since light rays actually are [[refracted]] to form the [[false]] image at the [[observer]]'s location. What the image appears to [[represent]], however, is determined by the [[interpretive]] faculties of the human [[mind]]. For example, inferior images on [[land]] are very easily mistaken for the reflections from a small body of [[water]].
Mirages can be categorized as "inferior" (meaning lower), "superior" (meaning higher) and "[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fata_Morgana_(mirage) Fata Morgana]", one kind of superior mirage consisting of a [[series]] of unusually elaborate, vertically-stacked images, which form one rapidly-changing mirage. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirage]
[[Category: Physics]]