About 1-1/2 years after photographing a solar flattening illusion at the other side of the continental U.S., the same physical processes yielded another off Sanibel Island. This actually is a common phenomenon wherever the horizon is at or very near true horizon and unobstructed, as across large bodies of water. Like the Mackinac example, the true sunset was over, the sun below the horizon, as this wafer of bent sunlight lingered in the ducting lens of a low-level density change. This appearance lingered longer—for a couple of minutes—first as a true sliver of solar observation beneath a distant cloud base, then as a mirage after the orb had gone beyond the horizon.
Sanibel FL (26 Dec 8) Looking WSW
26.4498, -82.1426“Flat Sun” from Florida
About 1-1/2 years after photographing a solar flattening illusion at the other side of the continental U.S., the same physical processes yielded another off Sanibel Island. This actually is a common phenomenon wherever the horizon is at or very near true horizon and unobstructed, as across large bodies of water. Like the Mackinac example, the true sunset was over, the sun below the horizon, as this wafer of bent sunlight lingered in the ducting lens of a low-level density change. This appearance lingered longer—for a couple of minutes—first as a true sliver of solar observation beneath a distant cloud base, then as a mirage after the orb had gone beyond the horizon.
Sanibel FL (26 Dec 8) Looking WSW
26.4498, -82.1426