Mirage
Videos
A mirage is a naturally occurring optical phenomenon in which light rays bend via refraction to produce a displaced image of distant objects or the sky. The word comes to English via the French mirer,
An inferior mirage seen in the Mojave Desert in a Nevada spring
A hot-road mirage, in which "fake water" appears on the road, is the most commonly observed instance of an inferior mirage.
Heat haze seen through exhaust gas from a jet engine
Above: A superior mirage of a plane on ice, McMurdo Station Right: An artificial mirage, using sugar solutions to simulate the inversion layers.
A mirage of an astronomical object is a meteorological optical phenomenon, in which light rays are bent to produce distorted or multiple images of an astronomical object. The mirages might be observed
A mock mirage of the setting Sun
Superior mirage (3-image mirage) of sunspot #930
An image of the Golden Gate Bridge is refracted and bent by droplets of water.
Inferior mirage of comet C/2006 P1 McNaught