A study on heat...

After driving a few thousand miles this past few weeks, I started seeing mirages. That is to say, I've always heard that wanderers in the desert would see water in the distance - that simply did not exist. And here I was, driving in the South, in the steamy heat of August (100 degrees farenheit and above), and I could see water shimmering in the distance... but it faded as I approached.

Living in PA, I don't observe this phenomenon ... I started to say often, but really, I haven't seen it in a LONG time or it wouldn't have made such an impression this time. I used to live in Arkansas (and Texas, and Mississippi, and Alabama, and Georgia, and Oklahoma (some of those for only 3 months or so, but still... )). In those years, the first 30 or so of my life, seeing water shimmer on the highway during summertime was a common thing. I never really gave it a lot of thought.

Then, a few weeks ago, I was reading a book by physicist Stephen Hawking, talking about gravity bending light rays and such... It's an interesting concept. Add to that, my fairly newly developed photographer's eye for the unusual, and a few thoughts about it, and I kinda got to wondering about this "mirage" business.

Technically, this water I am seeing may not be a mirage. I am not going to look up the word... But definitely, as you approach it, it ceases to exist. I was thinking - and perhaps I've always thought, that it's just an "optical illusion" - it doesn't really exist, it's just a trick of lighting that makes our eyes see what is not really there.

But then, I looked more, and more, and... I don't buy it. At all. I mean... It's not just the appearance of "water"... it's reflections IN the water. AND it is capturable with the camera. (First time I've ever tried that!!)

AND although I didn't catch it on film, I observed the same thing AFTER DARK. That's right, going through middle Louisiana, when night fell, the temps were still way up there.... and the same shimmering surface that existed in these photos was still there. And actually, it being dark - I could not see it... EXCEPT... and this was the coolest thing - I could see the reflections in it of other cars' headlamps and taillamps.

I do not have any really good explanations as to what this phenomenon is, other than that it is caused by heat, and perhaps, humidity - although if it also happens in a dry desert perhaps humidity plays no role in it. I could - and probably will - do some research and learn more about it, but before I do, I thought I'd post this and see what YOU think about it.

Comments?