On Shackleton’s return journey from within 97 miles of the South Pole, they were miles off their course, starving and weak, when by "an almost incredible coincidence the signal flag Joyce had mounted on the depot was raised into sight by a mirage, just in time to save the returning party.”
This quote, from Shackleton’s Forgotten Men: The Untold Tragedy of The Endurance Epic by Lennard Bickel, describes a Fata Morgana.
We see Fata Morgana as raised cliffs on the normally more gentle topography across McMurdo Sound.
See if you can see the difference between my two photos. The scale and the colors aren't the same, but use the two peaks as guides and look at the landscape between them as it reaches the sea ice. I hope you can see the steeper cliffs on the top photo! It was a clear morning and the cliff faces look "real" but they are mirages.
Fata Morgana view of Discovery Mountain area
Non-Fata Morgana view of Discovery Mountain area
Wikipedia describes it as follows: A Fata Morgana, Italian translation of Morgan le Fay, the fairy shapeshifting half-sister of King Arthur, is a mirage, an optical phenomenon which results from a temperature inversion. Objects on the horizon, such as islands, cliffs, ships or icebergs, appear elongated and elevated, like "fairy tale castles".
In calm weather, the undisturbed interface between warm air over cold dense air near the surface of the ground may act as a refracting lens, producing an upside-down image, over which the distant direct image appears to hover. Fata Morgana are usually seen in the morning after a cold night which has resulted in the radiation of heat into space. They may be seen in Arctic seas on very still mornings, or commonly on Antarctic ice shelves.
Fata Morgana are superior mirages, which are distinct from the more common inferior mirages, which create the illusion of distant pools of water in the desert and on hot roads.
Here is a zoomed-in photo that Bryan took of a Fata Morgana. Here you can clearly see the mirage aspect of it.
Close-up view of a Fata Morgana clearly showing it as a mirage (Photo by Bryan Newbold)
We had some other crazy visions last night at the annual McMurdo Halloween Party. Here are some of the costumes that entertained us at the party.
Louise Huffman, the education coordinator for the ANDRILL project, just returned from Happy Camp with this costume
The "Toast Busters" were a popular group entry into the costume contest
This unnamed man won for the most creative entry
Cara Sucher, the Crary Lab supervisor, with Bert and Ernie
Elvis, not in his best days, was a crowd favorite
Which is your favorite costume? Are you going to dress up for Halloween?
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