© Eric Van Lochem
Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada
Latitude: 45° 57' 49'' N
Longitude: 66° 38' 35'' W
23 June 2014 0730 (Local Time)
Camera direction: towards W
Image P/S code: P.13.5.4
Image I.D.: 5533
A clear night with radiational cooling at the surface allowed areas of fog to develop by dawn. Where the depth of the fog bank was thin and the Sun's rays were able to shine through, a fog bow formed as the Sun rose behind the photographer.
A fog bow is a primary bow, formed in much the same way as a rainbow: by the refraction and reflection of sunlight (or moonlight) in water droplets. It appears as a white band or bow on a “screen” of mist or fog as a result of the water droplets in mist and fog being very small.
The fog bow is also known as a cloudbow, mistbow or white rainbow.
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A glory, a Brocken spectre and a fog bow together with supernumerary bows are seen in this photograph taken from Mt. Zugspitze, Bavarian Alps, Germany on the German-Austrian border.
Cloud envelopes the summit at an altitude of 2962 m, but it is thin enough for the sun to cast the observer's shadow onto the cloud. The large shadow, distorted by perspective, is known as the Brocken spectre.
Around the observer's shadow, and centred on the point directly opposite the sun - the antisolar point - is the sequence of coloured rings known as the glory. The coloured rings are due to the refraction, reflection and diffraction of light by small water droplets in the cloud. The arrangement of colours is similar to that in a corona.
Outside of the glory is a fog bow together with supernumerary bows. The fog bow is also sometimes known as a cloudbow, mistbow or white rainbow. It is a primary rainbow but it typically appears as a white band, lacking the spectrum of colours since it is formed by very small water droplets.
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Cloud shrouded the summit of Mt. Zugspitze at an altitude of 2962 m on the German-Austrian border, but was thin enough for the sun to shine through and cast a shadow of the weather station tower to the antisolar point. The cloud consisted of small water droplets which, through refraction, reflection and diffraction of the sunlight, resulted in the formation of a glory, fog bow and several supernumerary bows.
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As fog thinned during the morning, this fog bow resulted from the refraction, reflection, and (to a minor extent) diffraction of sunlight in the fog droplets. Although formed in the same manner as a rainbow, the fog bow is a white-coloured bow because the water droplets that cause it are very small.
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This photograph from San Francisco, California, USA shows a fog bow, glory and Brocken spectre in fog.
The fog bow consists of a white-coloured bow seen on mist or fog. It is a primary bow caused by the refraction, reflection and (to a minor extent) diffraction of sunlight in the very small water droplets that make up the fog.
The glory is a sequence of coloured rings seen on the fog around the observer's own shadow, directly opposite the sun and centred on the antisolar point. The coloured rings are caused by the diffraction of light.
The observer's shadow, appearing large and distorted due to perspective, is called a Brocken spectre.
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