File:084 Sun setting in the Namib desert Photo by Giles Laurent.jpg

Original file (8,640 × 5,760 pixels, file size: 14.28 MB, MIME type: image/jpeg)

This file is from Wikimedia Commons and may be used by other projects. The description on its file description page there is shown below.

Summary

Description	English: Sun setting in the Namib desert, Namibia. The sun is not a perfect circle on the horizon due to atmospheric refraction, a phenomenon where Earth's atmosphere bends sunlight. As the sun appears near the horizon, its light passes through a thicker, denser layer of the atmosphere compared to when it's high in the sky. This denser air refracts, or bends, the lower edge of the sun's image more than the upper edge, causing the light from the bottom to be lifted higher than the light from the top, which squashes the sun into an oval or flattened disk. The wavy or rippled appearance of the sun's bottom edge is caused by atmospheric turbulence. While atmospheric refraction flattens the sun into an oval, turbulence within the lowest layers of the atmosphere creates the wavy motion. This phenomenon is a type of mirage caused by a temperature inversion, where cooler, denser air is trapped near the ground underneath warmer, less dense air. This layering effect further distorts the light, exaggerating the jagged, wavy appearance of the sun's lower edge. These mirages are most common over oceans or flat deserts at sunrise or sunset.
Date	Taken on 24 July 2025, 18:30:45
Source	Own work
Author	Giles Laurent


	This is a featured picture on Wikimedia Commons (Featured pictures) and is considered one of the finest images. See its nomination here. If you have an image of similar quality that can be published under a suitable copyright license, be sure to upload it, tag it, and nominate it.

I, the copyright holder of this work, hereby publish it under the following license:

You are free:

Under the following conditions:

attribution – You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
share alike – If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you must distribute your contributions under the same or compatible license as the original.