Natural sky phenomena such as rainbows, halos, and auroras, and the atmospheric optics that cause each, one phenomenon per card.
30 cards · basic cards · AI-written, checked twice. Edit anything.
- What optical phenomenon creates a colorful arc in the sky when sunlight is refracted and reflected by raindrops?
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A rainbow- What causes the separation of sunlight into its different colors within a raindrop?
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Refraction and dispersion of light- What optical phenomenon creates a ring of light around the sun or moon, caused by ice crystals in high clouds?
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A halo- What optical phenomenon shows a second, fainter rainbow above a primary rainbow, with colors reversed?
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A secondary rainbow- What natural light display, caused by charged particles from the sun interacting with the atmosphere, is visible in polar regions?
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The aurora (northern or southern lights)- What is the specific name for the aurora seen in the Northern Hemisphere?
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The aurora borealis (northern lights)- What is the specific name for the aurora seen in the Southern Hemisphere?
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The aurora australis (southern lights)- What optical phenomenon appears as bright spots of light on either side of the sun, caused by ice crystals?
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Sun dogs (parhelia)- What optical illusion, common in deserts, makes distant objects appear to shimmer or show reflections of water?
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A mirage- What optical phenomenon shows a rainbow-like halo around a shadow cast onto a cloud or fog bank, often seen from an airplane?
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A glory- What optical phenomenon describes a colorful ring seen around the shadow of an observer's head on dew-covered grass?
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A heiligenschein (or similarly a glory effect on grass)- What optical phenomenon causes clouds near the sun to show iridescent, rainbow-like colors?
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Cloud iridescence- What optical phenomenon shows a bright vertical column of light extending above or below the sun, caused by flat ice crystals?
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A sun pillar (light pillar)- What atmospheric phenomenon describes the reddish or orange sky colors seen at sunrise and sunset, caused by scattering of sunlight through more atmosphere?
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Rayleigh scattering (causing red skies at sunrise and sunset)- What physical process explains why the sky appears blue during the day?
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Rayleigh scattering of shorter blue wavelengths of sunlight
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