How are Mirages formed?
This would be easier to with a diagram, but here goes. On a sunny day, air near the ground is warmer because of the heat radiated from pavement, sand, etc. Light from the sky will refract (bend or be redirected) because of the difference in temperature of the air closer and closer to the ground. When it reaches the eye of an observer, it will appear to have come from the direction of the ground. So, the observer sees light from the sky coming from the ground. We see light from the sky reflected from the surface of a puddle of water or a lake in much the same way – coming from the earth instead of the sky. So, we interpret it in the same way, as water. Palm trees and other images associated with mirages are the stuff of movies or the imagination.
