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| sunset mirage |
A mirage is a reflection caused by bending light rays. When riding along a highway, one may sometimes see a reflection ahead which looks like a distant pool of water. People traveling across a desert will occasionally see what appears to be a distant lake, only to find it disappear as they move toward it. These reflections are mirages caused by a layer of dense warm air near the surface of the earth. Light rays bend when they pass through substances of different densities. The light rays from the sky are reflected toward one's line of visión by the dense warm air near the ground; so what one sees is not water, but a reflection of the sky.
