It is often observed on cloud-shrouded high mountains, such as Huangshan and Mount Emei. In China, the phenomenon is called Buddha's light (or halo). His work led directly to the cloud chamber, a device for detecting ionizing radiation for which he and Arthur Compton received the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1927. Inspired by the impressive sight, he decided to build a device for creating clouds in the laboratory, so that he could make a synthetic, small-scale glory. Wilson saw a glory while working as a temporary observer at the Ben Nevis weather station. A theory by Brazilian physicist Herch Moysés Nussenzveig suggests that the light energy beamed back by a glory originates mostly from classical wave tunneling (synonymous in the paper to the evanescent wave coupling), which is an interaction between an evanescent light wave traveling along the surface of the drop and the waves inside the drop. He speculated that the brightness of the coloured rings of the glory are caused by two-ray interference between "short" and "long" path surface waves-which are generated by light rays entering the droplets at diametrically opposite points (both rays suffer one internal reflection). In 1947, the Dutch astronomer Hendrik van de Hulst suggested that surface waves are involved. Most 20th century work on the phenomenon of rainbows and glories has focused on determining the correct intensity of light at each point in the phenomenon, which does require quantum theories. This is sometimes called The Glory of the Pilot. In the latter case, if the plane is flying sufficiently low for its shadow to be visible on the clouds, the glory always surrounds it. Outdoor glories are commonly observed from aircraft. Because this point is diametrically opposite to the sun's (or moon's) position in the sky, it usually lies below the observer's horizon except at sun (or moon) rise and set. Like a rainbow, outdoor glories are centred on the antisolar (or, in case of the moon, antilunar) point, which coincides with the shadow of the observer's head. "Glories can be seen on mountains and hillsides, from aircraft and in sea fog and even indoors." In the right conditions, a glory and a rainbow can occur simultaneously. The angular size of the inner and brightest ring is much smaller than that of a rainbow, about 5° to 20°, depending on the size of the droplets. The rings are rarely complete, being interrupted by the shadow of the viewer. Glories arise due to wave interference of light internally refracted within small droplets.ĭepending on circumstances (such as the uniformity of droplet size in the clouds), one or more of the glory's rings can be visible. ![]() ![]() ![]() Due to its appearance, the phenomenon is sometimes mistaken for a circular rainbow, but the latter has a much larger diameter and is caused by different physical processes. The glory consists of one or more concentric, successively dimmer rings, each of which is red on the outside and bluish towards the centre. The position of the glory's centre shows that the observer was in front of the wings.Ī glory is an optical phenomenon, resembling an iconic saint's halo around the shadow of the observer's head, caused by sunlight or (more rarely) moonlight interacting with the tiny water droplets that comprise mist or clouds.
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