This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Brocken spectre" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR(September 2012) (Learn how and when to remove this message)
A Brocken spectre (British English; American spelling: Brocken specter; German: Brockengespenst), also called Brocken bow, mountain spectre, or spectre of the Brocken is the magnified (and apparently enormous) shadow of an observer cast in mid air upon any type of cloud opposite a strong light source. The figure's head can be surrounded by a bright area called Heiligenschein, or halo-like rings of rainbow-coloured light forming a glory, which appear opposite the Sun's direction when uniformly sized water droplets in clouds refract and backscatter sunlight.
The phenomenon can appear on any misty mountainside, cloud bank, or be seen from an aircraft, but the frequent fogs and low-altitude accessibility of the Brocken, the highest peak of the Harz Mountains in Germany, have created a local legend from which the phenomenon draws its name. The Brocken spectre was observed and described by Johann Silberschlag in 1780, and has often been recorded in literature about the region.
Brockenspectre (British English; American spelling: Brocken specter; German: Brockengespenst), also called Brocken bow, mountain spectre, or spectre...
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe took up the legends in his play Faust. The Brockenspectre is a common phenomenon on this misty mountain, where a climber's shadow...
discovered in 2023 Brockenspectre, the magnified shadow of an observer cast upon clouds opposite of the Sun's direction Rolls-Royce Spectre, Rolls-Royce's...
phenomenon of the Brockenspectre and for witches' revels which reputedly took place there on Walpurgis night. The BrockenSpectre is a magnified shadow...
illusion known as the Brockenspectre is a plausible explanation for the legend. A Brockenspectre, also called a "mountain spectre", can occur in certain...
at AllMusic awarded The Spectre Within two stars out of five, saying that "Metal fans may enjoy this more than Night on Bröcken, especially 'Pirates of...
Engineering. In 1780 Silberschlag observed and described the Brocken bow (also called Brockenspectre). In his book Geonetics or Explanation of the Mosaic Creation...
media related to Mist (visible atmospheric water). Aerosol Aeroponics Brockenspectre Drizzle Fog Haze Spray (disambiguation) Rain "Mist and Fog". Archived...
credited with inventing the cloud chamber. Inspired by sightings of the Brockenspectre while working on the summit of Ben Nevis in 1894, he began to develop...
in cloud. The Brocken had always been a place of mystery, connected with witches and devils; where illusions such as the Brockenspectre might confuse...
able to be obtained. Angle-sensitive pixel Atmospheric diffraction Brockenspectre Cloud iridescence Coherent diffraction imaging Diffraction from slits...
are similar effects caused by different mechanisms. Aureole effect Brockenspectre, the magnified shadow of an observer cast upon the upper surfaces of...
optical phenomena, including subhorizon haloes, rainbows, glories, the Brockenspectre, and heiligenschein. Occasionally, around sunset or sunrise, anticrepuscular...
for one of the permanent staff. During this period, he witnessed a Brockenspectre and glory, caused by the sun casting a shadow on a cloud below the...