Looming:Seeing beyond earth’s curve
Taken by Marcella Giulia Pace - Alessia Scarso on June 20, 2024 @
Location: Maganuco (Rg)- South-eastern coast of Sicily, Italy
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Camera Used: NIKON CORPORATION NIKON D750
Exposure Time: 20/1
Aperture: f/3.5
ISO: 100
Date Taken: 2024:06:28 12:48:02
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Details:
These images, and in particular the video, document one of those rare moments in which the atmosphere rewrites the rules of vision. Recorded from the south-eastern coast of Sicily, they show an uncommon atmospheric optical phenomenon known as looming, observed under conditions of exceptionally fine air stratification above the sea. Very distant lights and profiles (approximately 90 km away) appear to rise above the marine horizon, where Earth’s curvature should normally conceal them.
Looming is a form of anomalous atmospheric refraction in which light rays, bent by strong temperature and density gradients, optically lift the apparent position of real objects located beyond the geometric horizon. The appearance and rapid fading of the lights (clearly visible in the video) testify to the inherently unstable nature of the phenomenon, driven by subtle thermal variations in the air layers close to the sea surface.
Authors: Alessia Scarso and Marcella Giulia Pace
(https://maps.app.goo.gl/Xs9ppbmJLEq3g4me8)
Complete documentary video with a description of the phenomenon and English subtitles: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcsUaF7PHyY&t=22s
Additional data and analysis:
A complete description of the event, including meteorological data, atmospheric stratification, and observational context, is available at:
https://greenflash.photo/portfolio/oltreorizzonte/
Photographer's website:
https://greenflash.photo/portfolio/oltreorizzonte/
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