New photos of "Buddha's light" appearing on Yellow Mountain (Huangshan) in Anhui yesterday have just been uploaded, thus ending a recent dry spell of divine apparitions in the news.
Also known as a "glory," Buddha's light is an optical phenomenon resembling a saint's halo around the shadow of the observer's head. The effect is believed to happen due to classical wave tunneling, when light nearby the droplet tunnels through air inside the droplet and, in the case of glory, is emitted backwards due to resonance effects.
Glories can only be seen when the observer is directly between the sun and cloud of refracting water droplets. Hence, it is commonly observed while airborne or from mountains and tall buildings, when there are clouds or fog below the level of the observer.
The apparition was spotted on the famous mountain range's Shixin Peak, whose name, appropriately enough, means "to begin to believe." Offering spectacular vistas of clouds from above known as the Sea of Clouds (yunhai) or Huangshan Sea, the Buddha's light phenomenon has been documented on Yellow Mountain for nearly two thousand years.
PHOTOS: Hebei's White Stone Mountain installs terrifying and awesome glass walkway
0 User Comments