Looking for a Word...

[-K2-]

I'm looking for a word to describe a bulge of light from the horizon like seen in this image:

What we're seeing above is 'Zodiacal Light' which is NOT what I'm wanting to explain, but the effect would be similar. IOW, a bulge of light but not fanning out.

Perhaps 'bulged up' might be it, but I can't help thinking there is a better word.

Any ideas?

K2

 

[The Judge]

I'm completely ignorant about the physics here, but is there an actual source of the light somewhere ie below the horizon? If so, would something like "spill" work? eg "Light spilled over the horizon." Thinking along those lines, you could search for other words usually associated with fluids eg surge, cascade, flood.

If you're looking for something that describes the shape of the light, what about "ballooned" or "billowed"?

 

[Boaz]

Halo, corona, aureole, glory, shekinah.

 

[Elckerlyc]

Perhaps 'bulged up' might be it, but I can't help thinking there is a better word.

There certainly is. This can only be a 'blob'.

 

[-K2-]

Well, as to what THAT image is, as said it's zodiacal light, which (very) roughly is dust floating throughout space illuminated by the sun: Zodiacal light - Wikipedia

What I'm trying to present in an effect more akin to an extended false sunset/dawn. Due to the band of overcast (clouds, moisture, and contaminants) that tends to circulate over northern latitudes (the jetstream not as variable/fluctuating as in years past since the Ferrel/mid-latitude cell has compressed), sunsets and dawns are muted...but...a glow remains longer into the night and early morning. IOW, the various 'twilights' get extended out due to refraction, reflection, scattering and so on.

Why it is happening is less consequential (so not discussed in the MS) than the effect. Extended twilight gets overwhelmed by city lights/skyglow, and when they shut off early morning, the 'nilite' (nightlight) as peeps call it is now east long before sunrise. The point being, dim days--brighter nights, so the people don't experience darkness like we need to rest properly (and it naturally affects flora and fauna as well).

Anywho, I just want to describe the effect with a word or two, the result on the people is what matters.

Thanks for the input,

K2

 

[Venusian Broon]

In searching around for terms I came across Lambent - 'shining gently', so for example 'a Lambent glow'. A bit different but might work.

Another old word that everyone won't know is fireflaught, which is quite nice. It's Scottish, (I've never seen it before today, so it's old.) It apparently describes: sheet lightning, shooting stars, will o'the wisps, and aurora borealis. So any sort of weird light in the sky I think

Will o' the wisp made me think of sprites as a descriptor. As it's already used to describe "large-scale electrical discharges that occur high above thunderstorm clouds...giving rise to a quite varied range of visual shapes flickering in the night sky " (See: Sprite (lightning) - Wikipedia) They are a bit more 'bulgy' rather than spread out.

Skyglow?

oh finding all sorts of odd things or names for processes in the atmosphere- The Belt of Venus, or Venus's Girdle. (See: Belt of Venus - Wikipedia)

 

[-K2-]

Hmm, I'm not sure most folks would understand 'Lambent glow'... Okay, I'll admit it, I had to look it up. Fireflaught, likely not, my readers tend to just read English The other things are all neat effects but not quite there (speaking of, here's a nice list of optical phenomena: Optical phenomena - Wikipedia ).

Using 'belt of venus' as an example, that's a wide pinkish band. For me that doesn't work. First off, reds get stripped out of or muted from the spectrum due to the extensive methane in the atmosphere. I'm also envisioning a short (width), narrow (height) band of brightness along the edge of the horizon, and at the center of that extends up that bulging glow, slightly more intense a vertical pillar along the ecliptic, but fans out and fades like the above image.

That said, I did read up on the 'blue hour' due to your link: Blue hour - Wikipedia . I've long mentioned how after sunset during twilight, I actually see better due to the reduction of glare, yet I also seem sensitive to UV light. That doesn't mean I can see UV, but a lot of objects out in nature become more clear to me and actually stand out (a lot like old blacklight posters tend to do). Then again, my night vision is so good I never use a flashlight... I ramble, huh? hehe.

Thus far we have:
Spill, surge, cascade, flood ('flooded up' was what I was using), ballooned, billowed.
Halo, corona, aureole, glory, shekinah.
Blob...
Lambent, fireflaught (from some strange language), skyglow, bulgy, belt of venus.
From my own flailings: flare, fanned, extended up, flooded up, illuminated (way too vague)

The clumsy (first draft) sentence currently:
Pale hues of the extended false sunset flooded up from the western horizon and outlined the rim for hours.
or,
The extended false sunset's pale hues flooded up from the western horizon and outlined the rim for hours.

Hmmm...

K2

 

[Astro Pen]

Maybe you will have to invent a word like "Lumescence" a sort of hybrid of luminescence and tumescence?

I agree there is a strong 'tip of the tongue' sensation that the word exists and is just out of reach, but I don't think it does.

ps Lambent is too Noÿsy.

 

[Pyan]

Skyglow? Or is that too specifically light pollution?

 

[tinkerdan]

Known as a "pyramid of light", the phenomenon will rise from the horizon for about an hour after dusk from today until March 24.
Quoted from this site:

Strange ‘pyramid of light’ so bright it looks like a ‘fake dawn’ will appear in the sky for next two weeks

A BIZARRE light show so bright it looks like a second sunset will grace the night sky over Britain and the US for the next two weeks. Known as a “pyramid of light”, the phenomenon will …

www.the-sun.com

 

[-K2-]

Skyglow? Or is that too specifically light pollution?

Skyglow is one effect that applies, but to a different source (the massive city's lights). That said, 'airglow' is another phenomena which brightens up the sky (and would actually be intensified significantly due to methane and pollutant decomposition in the upper atmosphere), but not this (see below).

Known as a "pyramid of light", the phenomenon will rise from the horizon for about an hour after dusk from today until March 24.
Quoted from this site:

Strange ‘pyramid of light’ so bright it looks like a ‘fake dawn’ will appear in the sky for next two weeks

A BIZARRE light show so bright it looks like a second sunset will grace the night sky over Britain and the US for the next two weeks. Known as a “pyramid of light”, the phenomenon will …

www.the-sun.com

Yes, that's the effect, but that's zodiacal light...and 'pyramid of light' (to me) sounds too hard edged. We know it's not from the image, but I need to convey that image brightening up clouds in a way the reader can envision. Perhaps just "glow" is what I should use, but then I need some shape to it.

My nonsense:

I want the cause to be considerably different (ZL is dust in space illuminated). In my series, the band of overcast that resides in the now compressed Ferrel Cell ( https://www.researchgate.net/profil...-1-Hadley-cell-2-Ferrel-cell-3-Polar-cell.png ) extends twilight. Figuring in refraction ( What Is Refraction of Light? ) and diffusion, and finally reflection... after the sun sets or before it rises you'll get an extended twilight and band of light.

So, instead of just the usual stages of twilight, you'll also get a lightening of the overcast from above AND below once the sun is below the horizon--extending out twilight.

So, in the story day is dimmer than usual. But, nights are brighter (disrupting natural sleep/rest patterns). Finally, there is never any darkness of night. Night is now broken up into thirds. Extended twilight dusk--city lights on (then off)--extended twilight to dawn. The above effect and others brightens the cloud cover, and then what's below happens:

In brief so I don't bore everyone more than I have, airglow+moonlight backlights and diffuses through the thin band of overcast (so the overall panorama is a light/pale sky vs. black). Distant (silent) lightning and higher altitude electrical discharges would be prevalent, making that overcast also flare. The city is massive and condensed, and surrounding the area in question is over-lighted, reflecting off the haze causing glare, over-illumination, light trespass, light clutter... cumulatively 'skyglow.'

Past that I figured in a LOT of how light affects your vision, loss of full spectrum, and so on...and on...and on.

Hehe, anywho, I'm looking for a word or two to describe how that one of many effects looks.

Perhaps it's a waste of time to research all this, but I'm learning so much. It's the best part of writing--for me.

K2

 

[tinkerdan]

So you really are describing these three happening all the time.


Definition for dayglow (2 of 2)
a dim light from the upper atmosphere caused by emissions from atoms and molecules ionized by solar radiation: observed at night (nightglow), during the day (dayglow), and at twilight (twilight glow), with each having slightly different characteristics.


Only it sounds like you have some condition that makes it more like varied levels of Twilight glow.
A sort of Eternal Twilight.
50 shades of Grey or er um Gray.

Are you suggesting an atmosphere of dense clouds?
The Venus Effect

Also leaning heavily toward:
Corona Effect

 

[-K2-]

So you really are describing these three happening all the time.

Definition for dayglow (2 of 2)
a dim light from the upper atmosphere caused by emissions from atoms and molecules ionized by solar radiation: observed at night (nightglow), during the day (dayglow), and at twilight (twilight glow), with each having slightly different characteristics.

Only it sounds like you have some condition that makes it more like varied levels of Twilight glow.
A sort of Eternal Twilight.
50 shades of Grey or er um Gray.

Are you suggesting an atmosphere of dense clouds?
The Venus Effect

Also leaning heavily toward:
Corona Effect

No, the three things were conditions/times that all combined cause a brightened night throughout (in three stages ***).
*Dayglow/nightglow/twilight glow as you call it...airglow (enhanced due to contributions to the atmosphere in the MS) is a different effect and though unrelated, part of that cumulative whole.
*I also didn't say an atmosphere of dense clouds...but a band of low, thin clouds (overcast) situated and unnaturally stable (latitudinally due to reduced jet and polar stream fluctuation due to a compressed Ferrel Cell).
*As to a Corona Effect, wouldn't apply since were not directly seeing the source of light, and the result isn't a halo around the source.

I guess the best way to demonstrate it would be if you're on one side of a wall in a dense fog. Someone on the other side shines a flashlight up into the fog. The rapidly dispersing beam (wider and more intense at the bottom then the point of extinction), would be somewhat similar. >>> Except, in our case, we have the intensity of the sun, well below the horizon, illuminating the visible overcast for an extended time due to refraction (just like the various stages of twilight), reflection--light passing below the clouds at southern latitudes and front-lighting the underside of the cover, resultant landscape illumination and reflection again back toward the overcast-- And finally diffusion of the light through the cloud cover localized due to the source (sun).

***IOW, the false sunset would be prolonged. Eventually it dims and then vanishes. Then you get a prolonged false sunrise (exactly opposite/brightening vs. dimming) on the opposite side after a period of darkness. Unfortunately, that dark period is missed due to skyglow from the city which overlaps both sunset and sunrise twilight events at their end/beginning respectively.

K2

 

[tinkerdan]

I kind of understand this...

*I also didn't say an atmosphere of dense clouds...but a band of low, thin clouds (overcast) situated and unnaturally stable (latitudinally due to reduced jet and polar stream fluctuation due to a compressed Ferrel Cell).

...Well, no, I really don't.

What I can't grasp is your notion of the light--is this something that happens; because if it is then there should be a name for that. So far all suggestions have been no but it's a bit like that, but not that. So, is this whole effect something you are making up; because if it is then just name it it's your creation.

For some reason I only got some pieces of this in the prior post and then some of the stuff in the last post seemed new; how much more about this effect can you describe and most definitely is it something you have made up? Because it sounds made up while shrouded in scientific explanations for all sorts of other things but not what you really are talking about, possibly because there is no scientific evidence of that which you are talking about.

But then again refer back to my other declaration...
...Well, no, I really don't.

 

[-K2-]

@tinkerdan ; the conditions I present are happening (forming) as it is with climate change. The Hadley cells are expanding, pushing north/south the Ferrel Cells (mid-latitude cells) and compressing them. Polar and subtropical jets are fluctuating more frequently and to greater extremes to try and compensate. Moisture and cloud density is condensing and forming in a band farther north. And naturally, as the tropical zone expands, the subtropical and temperate zones are shifting north/south and narrowing. Eventually (I've read, theorized), a tipping point is reached and the back and forth surrenders to the new conditions and things stabilize (though not to the better).

That's where we're at in my story, immediately after that projected tipping point.

The light effect I'm seeking to amplify, already happens now. But, the conditions are not every day, as stable, or as prolonged (hours each night). That effect I'm assuming would be a result (in the particular region in question, U.S. Eastern seaboard, NY to DC) when weather patterns lock in after that point.

So, I'm not making it up--although--I'm having to guess what the result might be. All of the issues with light, also happen. Yet again, inconsistent and not so firmed up (associated conditions) it's not as noticeable or recognized.

I'm not bright enough to make this stuff up. I just abuse it.

K2

 

[DannMcGrew]

The man you need to ask is Gavin Pretor-Pinney at the Cloud Appreciation Society
supportdesk@cloudappreciationsociety.org

 

[tinkerdan]

I'm pretty sure I'm getting this part...

the conditions I present are happening (forming) as it is with climate change. The Hadley cells are expanding, pushing north/south the Ferrel Cells (mid-latitude cells) and compressing them. Polar and subtropical jets are fluctuating more frequently and to greater extremes to try and compensate. Moisture and cloud density is condensing and forming in a band farther north. And naturally, as the tropical zone expands, the subtropical and temperate zones are shifting north/south and narrowing. Eventually (I've read, theorized), a tipping point is reached and the back and forth surrenders to the new conditions and things stabilize (though not to the better).

--they do have lightning--

...I can't seem to link it with any sort of light effects--acknowledgement or description. For all I can tell it might be a part of the zodiacal light.
Or even Aurora Borealis.
Do you have a link.

 

[-K2-]

...I can't seem to link it with any sort of light effects--acknowledgement or description. For all I can tell it might be a part of the zodiacal light.
Or even Aurora Borealis.
Do you have a link.

Well, would you like all of the links relating to current optical phenomena, twilight, sunrise/set, climate, changes due to climate change and atmospheric particulates/gasses, atmospheric circulation, and so on (whereupon we then need to combine them to determine how the changes will affect optical aspects)...Or...address the one or two words I'm looking for to describe how the initial image looks?

Thanks for your help,

K2

 

[-K2-]

Well, I'm bypassing this for a bit to finish chugging through this read-through edit-session, and I've highlighted this section of the chapter to come back to next go round (the whole thing is clunky and long winded).

Kae looked out over the swarming masses and vast city, the place and people extending far beyond the horizon. The low, thin overcast had crept back in obscuring the sky, and the dim light of day slowly surrendered to the bright night.

Already the nightlight glowed on the southwestern horizon—No, nilite—Kae corrected herself in P-say. The sun’s vibrant farewell of years past in orange, pink, red, and purple, now reduced to a pale luminescence. Gone were clouds painted by a setting sun, the final flare of twilight, and a gentle fade to peaceful darkness.

Now, nights were fractioned into thirds. Muted hues of the lingering false sunset extended up from the western horizon as a condensed glow and outlined the rim for hours. Before its fade, bright lights hammered up to the haze overwhelming the nilite, bathing all of Case City in its own oppressive illumination. Hours later when they simultaneously switched off, the nilite reappeared east, threatening a dawn long in coming.

No soothing embrace of darkness coaxing you to rest; the light, this place, these people…Case City…inescapable.

Her melancholy musings aside...

K2

 

[-K2-]

And the words I'm going with are 'parabolic and beacon.'

Thanks everyone for your help.

K2