Fata Morgana
\Italian FAH-tah mawr-GAH-nah\
noun
1. Meteorology. a mirage consisting of multiple images, as of cliffs and buildings, that are distorted and magnified to resemble elaborate castles, often seen near the Straits of Messina.
Quotes
Under some conditions, refraction can even turn things upside down. When a warmer layer of air sits above a cooler layer it can bend light so strongly around the curvature of Earth that it creates a type of mirage called a Fata Morgana. In the Arctic, this can lead to an apparent wall of ice rising before an explorer.
-- Stephen Battersby, "Pole Position," New Scientist, December 20, 2014
Origin
Fata Morgana comes from the name of a figure from Arthurian legend, Morgan le Fay, the fairy sister of King Arthur who was associated in literature with magical castles. The term entered English in the early 1800s.
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