What is a Temperature Inversion?
A temperature inversion occurs when a layer of warmer air traps a layer of cooler air near the surface. Temperature inversions are most common after…
Tag: optical
Rainbow Natural Navigation Mini Quiz
I took this photo of a rainbow in Sussex, southern England, late in the day, a little over a week ago. Which way are we…
The Scintillating Secrets of Twinkling Stars
A guest blog about the secrets of scintillating stars by Dan Bennett Most of us know what stars are (“I always thought they were balls…
What’s the First Thing You Saw?
What’s the first thing you noticed on seeing the image above? Was it the curved stick? Our brain is hard-wired from birth to notice shapes…
I Had to Reach Out
My thanks to Betsy from Corvallis, Oregon, USA, for this email: Hi! I don’t know if the author has time for such small excitements, but…
What are Anticrepuscular Rays?
If there was no atmosphere the daytime sky would like the nighttime one, but with a fiercely bright star where the sun was. Air is…
Nature’s Clues & Signs – The National Gallery
During a break from recording an audiobook, I visited the National Gallery, a major art museum in Trafalgar Square, London. It has been a long-running fascination…
Fast Recognition and Optical Illusions in Nature
Our brains are pattern-recognising machines. This is true everywhere, but not least in nature, where it honed these skills over millions of years. Bird calls,…
Why is the Horizon White?
Have you noticed how the horizon is white, even on a day when the sky is a perfect blue and there isn’t a cloud in…
What are Supernumerary Rainbows?
Supernumerary rainbows are faint bow lines that appear just inside the main rainbow. Look at the rainbow above and you may just be able to…
Is this Grass Blue or Green?
My thanks to Peter Gibbs for another fascinating email. You can see our exchange below. If you have your own different interpretation, do please get in touch. ——-…
Heiligenschein or Halo Effect
When a bright light source is directly behind us, we see a brighter ring around the shadow of our head. This is the Heiligenschein, or…