heat shimmer
Hot air distortion
Heat shimmer is the wavering, rippling distortion of air visible above hot surfaces—asphalt roads in summer, desert sand, or flames.
Rising warm air bends light passing through it, making distant objects appear to dance or blur.
The effect often accompanies mirages: The heat shimmer made the highway look wet.
- mirageAtmospheric optical deception
- optical illusionMisleading visual perception
- hazeMurky atmospheric suspension
- waveringShowing unsteady resolve
- distortionTwisting from original state
asphalt · desert · ripple · swelter · blacktop · radiant · scorching · horizon · glimmer · highway · road trip · noon · pavement · desert highway · refraction · undulating · blistering · oasis
- desert featuresmirage, sandstorm, sand dunes, oasis, dust devil
- illusionsmirage, optical illusion, hallucination, illusion, afterimage
- visual phenomenaoptical illusion, phosphenes, mirage, afterimage, afterimages
- miragesdesert mirage
- optical illusionsoptical illusion, optical illusions, trompe l'oeil, impossible stairs, duck-rabbit
- desertsand, sand dunes, sand dune, dune, dunes