Brocken Spectres, Glories and Fogbows

Visiting mountain regions a fair bit has allowed me to observe an array of beautiful atmospheric optical phenomena. These can be present when you get sunlight and mist or clouds. You need to be lucky and observant to see them.

Brocken spectre and glory on Mt Geryon, Tasmania

First is a glory. This is a ring shaped rainbow. It is much smaller in angular size than a rainbow so cannot be caused by the rainbow mechanism – refraction within a circular raindrop. Glories appear in the anti-solar position. They are not caused by refraction but rather by diffraction of light (as well as reflection and refraction) as the light waves pass around droplets of mist or clouds. The actual mechanism of their formation is complex and requires quantum mechanics. In modern times glories are often observed from planes.

A faint glory with no Brocken spectre viewed from Broken Rock Range

A Brocken Spectre or “Spectre of Brocken” is a shadow of the observer that can form on mist or clouds. As it is a shadow from the sun, it too must be in the anti-solar position. The shadow by an optical illusion appears magnified. It also only forms for the observer. If there is a group of people, each only sees their own Brocken spectre – and one only. All the Brocken spectres I have seen have been accompanied by a glory. The name “Brocken” comes from the peak Brocken in the Harz mountains of Germany where they were often observed.

Brocken spectre and Mt Everest

Fogbows are another interesting phenomena. It is like a rainbow and caused by the same mechanism. However it is caused by refraction in droplets of mist rather than rain, and the much smaller size of the droplets results in a lack of colours – so they often appear white. I was lucky to observe my first fogbow earlier in the year on a visit to the Walls of Jerusalem National Park in Tasmania.

Brocken spectre from the Temple, Walls of Jerusalem, Tasmania

Fogbow around the Brocken spectre at the Temple

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3 Responses to Brocken Spectres, Glories and Fogbows

  1. I remember climbing Mt. Slieve Donard in Ireland almost 30 years ago. I saw something that looked like your first photo of a “glory”. I saw a large number of small ring shaped rainbowlets close to the ground, just before reaching the summit. I didn’t have a camera then and none of my fellow hikers (from An Oige, the Irish youth hostel organization) as well.
    This must have been even more rare than a single “glory”against a rock face. What do you think?

  2. Ana Nur says:

    Wow, thank you for all the information, I find all of this very fascinating. Thank you again for explaining it all.

  3. Jayne Hilditch says:

    I was so excited today to get a photo of myself in a broken spectre, have wanted to do this for years. I was on top of red pike in the Lake District. The quality of the picture is rubbish as I only had my phone with me but the experience was fantastic!

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