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Sun Glitter
Mon Oct 27, 2003
Listen in RealAudio 
When you look at the sun across an expanse of water, you see an elongated, often
brilliantlycolored, trail of light on the sea. This is sun glitter. Hi, I'm Bryan Yeaton for
The Weather Notebook.
Sun glitter is actually the composite of innumerable glints, each formed by a portion of the
solar beam reflected off the water's surface, at just the right angle to send its light to our
eyes. The glitter pattern dances as the restless waters create a new set of reflecting
surfaces every moment, so each observer enjoys his or her own unique pattern.
The shape of the glitter trail varies with the solar altitude. From an aircraft, we would see
a very elongated ellipse, a stretched distortion of the solar disk. When viewed from the
surface, the ellipse becomes even more elongated, often barely wider than the sun
itself.
With the sun low in the sky, the glitter trail extends toward us from the horizon, taking on
the color of the setting sun. In their last daylight moments, sunbeams traverse miles of
atmosphere which scatters away most of the blue light, filling the western sky and tinting the
glitter with a pallet of reds, oranges and yellows. All that glitters is not gold, sometimes
it's crimson or salmon.
As the sun approaches the horizon, waves begin to affect the glitter field, with higher waves
casting shadows on smaller ones and eliminating their glint. The glitter path's length
decreases, and it loses brightness. Once the sun reaches the horizon, glitter suddenly
vanishes, leaving only a few scattered glints on the highest wave crests.
Thanks to our contributing writer, meteorologist Keith Heidorn. The Weather Notebook comes to
you through the support of Subaru of America, and The National Science Foundation.
Today's Links
More:
http://www.geospectra.net/kite/weather/glitter.htm
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