EarthSky Community Photos

Submit your photo here. Comment or upvote on photo pages. Search via photographers' names. More improvements coming! To help, please donate.

Meiying Lee
Taipei, Taiwan
04/03/2023
05:58 am

Equipment Details:

Canon R7+600mm Lens

Image Details:

Twice a year we have the opportunities to see this interesting phenomenon from our balcony - the sun appears to be on fire! The building below the sun is an incinerator, and the "flames" are actually steam emissions from the incinerator. Normally, these emissions cannot be seen. However, when the morning sun rises directly above the incinerator, and the sunlight is not too strong, the steam's flow can be clearly seen due to refraction (and perhaps also scattering). The steam emission from the incinerator is strong, and it looks like the sun is burning with raging flames. It is truly an exciting spectacle, and I look forward to the sun being in this position every year!
Video link of the whole process: https://youtu.be/2509RcCEW8I