Research, Technology

The most unusual natural phenomena that always surprise people

Planet Earth is so amazing anddiverse that scientists still cannot fully study it. And this is not only about the fact that science still does not know what variety of animals lives in the depths of the ocean. Sometimes scientists find it difficult to explain certain natural phenomena. When city dwellers see an unusual glow in the sky or notice other strange sights, theories arise about aliens, secret weapons, and so on. But the truth turns out to be very simple - people simply turn out to be witnesses of rare natural phenomena. Such cases are always recorded and studied, as a result of which the researchers give them a detailed explanation. In the framework of this article, we propose to learn about the most unusual natural phenomena and find out why they happen.

There are many natural phenomena on Earth that are carefully studied by scientists.

Content

  • 1 double rainbow
  • 2 Cellular clouds
  • 3 Fireballs
  • 4 Glowing pillars in the sky
  • 5 Saint Elmo's Fire

Double Rainbow

In the summer, after rain, you can go outside and see a rainbow in the sky. The reason for its occurrence has been known to us since childhood: during precipitation, water drops appear in the air and they refract sunlight.

common rainbow

However, sometimes not one, but two at once is visible in the sky.rainbows - the secondary is higher and does not look as bright as the first. The order of the colors in the second rainbow is reversed, with purple on the outside and red on the inside. The reason for this unusual natural phenomenon is very simple - a secondary rainbow appears due to the fact that sunlight is reflected from droplets in the air twice.

Double Rainbow

honeycomb clouds

Clouds in the sky often form interestingfigures - in them you can see people, animals, and so on. On the territory of the United States, there are occasionally clouds that seem to hang from the sky. This is a very beautiful sight, but knowledgeable people would hardly want to see them, because they form in tropical cyclones and portend a storm or hurricane.

Cellular clouds are also known as vymetic clouds.

Sometimes honeycomb clouds look ominous

Each "cell" that hangs down hasabout 0.5 kilometers in diameter. Most often they have clear contours, but sometimes their edges are blurred. The color of cellular clouds is gray, like that of ordinary clouds. But if the sun is low, they turn golden.

Cellular clouds sometimes change color

Airplanes always avoid cellular clouds because they can produce harsh and strong winds. They can also form ball lightning.

See also: Why planes crash and how to survive in a crash?

Ball lightning

About how lightning is formed, you already know for sure.already know - we have excellent material on this topic. But sometimes lightning can be ball lightning, which are clumps of energy floating in the air. There are many eyewitnesses to this phenomenon, but scientists still cannot fully explain the reason for its occurrence. It is now known that ball lightning can occur even in clear weather, near sources such as power lines. Occasionally they appear out of nowhere - so, at least, eyewitnesses say.

Ball lightning over the rails

Ball lightning in the sky

You can talk about ball lightning for a long time - if you are interested in the details, read this material.

You will be interested: Interesting and little-known facts about lightning

Glowing pillars in the sky

More recently, the people of Russia were surprised thatthat luminous pillars appeared in the night sky - at least they were observed in Moscow and Belgorod. One could easily think that these were flying saucers, secret weapons, or some kind of anomaly. Such versions arose among people, but weather forecasters quickly explained that this was just another natural phenomenon.

Light pole in Belgorod

solar pole

Light pillars arise from the refraction of lightfrom airborne ice crystals. The light source is usually the sun or moon, but in some cases it can be car headlights, spotlights and greenhouses. In the case of Belgorod, the last option is correct - the luminous poles were located just in the area where the greenhouse facilities were installed.

See also: The most unusual natural phenomena on Mars

Saint Elmo's fire

In the end, we left one of the most interestingnatural phenomena, which especially impressed sailors hundreds of years ago. During storms, crew members saw bright yellow-orange lights on the sharp ends of the masts. In those days, no one could explain this phenomenon from a scientific point of view, so the sailors considered these lights to be a good sign from the gods.

St. Elmo's lights looked something like this

In fact, these bundles of energy arisenot only on ships, but also on tall trees, rocks, and so on. This occurs when there is a high electric field strength in the atmosphere. Most often, discharges occur during thunderstorms, winter snowstorms and all sorts of storms. The fires of St. Elmo got their name in honor of the eponymous patron saint of sailors in Catholicism.

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In fact, there are many in the worldunusual natural phenomena and it is impossible to mention everything in one article. However, we regularly write about them - for example, we recently talked about the pink sky in Antarctica. In order not to miss something else new, subscribe to our Telegram channel.