What is "fata morgana"

Mirage \Mi`rage"\, n. [F., fr. mirer to look at carefully, to aim, se mirer to look at one's self in a glass, to reflect, to be reflected, LL. mirare to look at. See Mirror.] An optical effect, sometimes seen on the ocean, but more frequently in deserts, due to total reflection of light at the surface common to two strata of air differently heated. The reflected image is seen, commonly in an inverted position, while the real object may or may not be in sight. When the surface is horizontal, and below the eye, the appearance is that of a sheet of water in which the object is seen reflected; when the reflecting surface is above the eye, the image is seen projected against the sky. The fata Morgana and looming are species of mirage.

By the mirage uplifted the land floats vague in the ether, Ships and the shadows of ships hang in the motionless air.
--Longfellow.

1818, literally "Fairy Morgana," mirage especially common in the Strait of Messina, Italy, from Morgana, the "Morgan le Fay" of Anglo-French poetry, sister of King Arthur, located in Calabria by Norman settlers. Morgan is Welsh, "sea-dweller." There is perhaps, too, here an influence of Arabic marjan, literally "pearl," also a fem. proper name, popularly the name of a sorceress.

n. A mirage, especially one seen in the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strait%20of%20Messina

n. a mirage in the Strait of Messina (attributed to the Arthurian sorcerer Morgan le Fay)

Fata Morgana may refer to:

• Fata Morgana (mirage), an optical phenomenon
• Morgan le Fay or , a sorceress in Arthurian legend

A Fata Morgana is an unusual and complex form of superior mirage that is seen in a narrow band right above the horizon. It is the Italian name for the Arthurian sorceress Morgan le Fay, from a belief that these mirages, often seen in the Strait of Messina, were fairy castles in the air or false land created by her witchcraft to lure sailors to their deaths. Although the term Fata Morgana is sometimes applied to other, more common kinds of mirages, the true Fata Morgana is not the same as an ordinary superior mirage, nor is it the same as an inferior mirage.

Fata Morgana mirages significantly distort the object or objects on which they are based, often such that the object is completely unrecognizable. A Fata Morgana can be seen on land or at sea, in polar regions or in deserts. This kind of mirage can involve almost any kind of distant object, including boats, islands and the coastline.

A Fata Morgana is often rapidly changing. The mirage comprises several inverted (upside down) and erect (right side up) images that are stacked on top of one another. Fata Morgana mirages also show alternating compressed and stretched zones.

This optical phenomenon occurs because rays of light are bent when they pass through air layers of different temperatures in a steep thermal inversion where an atmospheric duct has formed. (A thermal inversion is an atmospheric condition where warmer air exists in a well-defined layer above a layer of significantly cooler air. This temperature inversion is the opposite of what is normally the case; air is usually warmer close to the surface, and cooler higher up.)

In calm weather, a layer of significantly warmer air can rest over colder dense air, forming an atmospheric duct which acts like a refracting lens, producing a series of both inverted and erect images. A Fata Morgana requires a duct to be present; thermal inversion alone is not enough to produce this kind of mirage. While a thermal inversion often takes place without there being an atmospheric duct, an atmospheric duct cannot exist without there first being a thermal inversion.

Fata Morgana is a film by Werner Herzog, shot in 1969, which captures mirages in the Sahara desert. Herzog also wrote the voiceover narration by Lotte Eisner, which recites the Mayan creation myth, the Popol Vuh.

Fata Morgana, the forbidden city, also known as 1001 Arabian Nights (or "1001 nachten" in Dutch) is a dark ride in amusement park Efteling in the Netherlands. It was designed by Ton van de Ven and Jan Verhoeven and opened in 1986.

Fata Morgana (also known as Left-Handed Fate) is a 1965 Spanish drama film directed by veteran filmmaker Vicente Aranda and distributed in America by Troma Entertainment. It grossed 1,882,000 ESP in the box office with 40,053 in attendance.

Fata Morgana is a 2007 German film directed by Simon Groß and starring Matthias Schweighöfer, Marie Zielcke and Jean-Hugues Anglade. The film is about a young couple ending up lost in the desert and being forced to trust a shady stranger to lead them back to civilisation.

Fata Morgana was a Flemish television show which ran for five series between 2004 and 2008. It could be classified as a game show, though there were no prizes to be won.

Each episode, a local celebrity would issue a series of five themed challenges to a particular town or city, usually tasks which required a great deal of manpower and creativity. The inhabitants of the competing town or city had roughly six days to complete these task, ending in an event on Saturday afternoon where their efforts were judged, and symbolic " gold stars" were awarded for each task successfully completed. Both this event and the preparations during the week were taped and broadcast the following Sunday evening, with the next challenge presented at the end of the programme.

Challenges included breaking world records, assembling masses in a particular style of fancy dress, building scale replicas of monuments, and retrieving items from foreign countries or outer space.

The first series was presented by Geena Lisa and Sergio. The latter left the program in 2007 and was replaced by Steph Goossens for the final two series.

"Fata Morgana" is the third episode of the science fiction television series Sanctuary. The episode first aired on the Sci Fi Channel in the United States on October 10, 2008. It subsequently aired on ITV4 in the United Kingdom on October 20, 2008. The episode, which is named after a mirage of the same name, was written by Damian Kindler. Martin Wood served as director.

"Fata Morgana" was originally released as the back half of the eight original Sanctuary webisodes in 2007. In the episode, the Sanctuary team investigate an ancient crypt in an island off the Scottish coast and encounter three sisters with abnormal powers. "Fata Morgana" was met with a 1.6 household rating and was generally well received by critics.