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Earth's atmosphere, turbulence and optical effects

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Light Misbehaving: A Field Guide to Rainbows, Halos, and the Aurora

· 12 min read
Héliodore Kairós
Reluctant Meteorologist

There are moments when light forgets its manners. It stops travelling in polite straight lines, abandons its composure, and throws itself across the sky in extravagant arcs of colour, ghostly rings around the sun, or shimmering curtains of green that have no business existing at all. These are the moments when sensible people stop walking, tilt their heads back, and forget what they were doing. I have observed this behaviour in fishermen, postal workers, and once in a goat, though with the goat I cannot be entirely certain of the cause.