The hallway is an optical illusion known as a fogbow. It was created by sunlight reflecting off a cloud that had passed below the mountain where this picture was taken.
This beautiful fogbow was pictured on La Palma. Mr Tudorica's shadow can be seen at the bottom middle
The impressive archway was captured on La Palma in the Canary Islands by 23-year-old Alex Tudorica. The Romanian photographer captured it on a trip to the Isaac Newton Telescope at the Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos.
He told the Mail Online: 'One morning after my observations I decided to watch the sunrise near the astronomers' residence even though I was really tired.'My patience was greatly rewarded when the sun rose and the clouds started to ascend. As I tried to get better shots I climbed for an hour all the way to the top of the mountain, until I saw this wonderful fogbow below.'
A glory can be seen in this faint fogbow. It is produced by light backscattered towards its source by a cloud of uniformly-sized water droplets. It can only be seen when the observer is directly between the Sun and cloud, so they must be high up
Fogbows like rainbows, are formed by sunlight reflecting inside water drops, creating an arch opposite the sun. In rainbows this light is also refracted along well defined paths.
Fogbows in contrast are formed by much smaller water droplets, which scatter the light more extensively through diffraction. Each bow of colour is very broad and the colours overlap, washing out the hues. Sometimes the inner and outer edges show faint bluish and reddish tinges.
The ghostly phenomena are most often seen on hills, mountains and in cold sea mists. You can also see them when the Sun is near the horizon and there is a tall, clearly defined bank of fog in the direction away from the Sun.
A fogbow abruptly stops where the water droplets have dissipated
Hall of the Mountain King
'In The Hall of the Mountain King' was a piece of music composed by Edvard Grieg for Henrik Ibsen's play Peer Gynt.
The sequence occurs when Peer sneaks into the Mountain King's castle and then attempts to escape from the King and his trolls.
It is well known as the theme tune for Alton Towers amusement park.
Mr Tudorica said: 'The conditions were just right for some very nice optical phenomena to appear. I was really lucky and saw a really great fogbow.
'I had to take my shots quickly as this phenomenon would only lasting for a few minutes due to fast moving clouds.'
Mr Tudorica has been interested in photography and science since his teenager years. He has had two pictures published by Nasa and been featured in the Sky and Telescope magazine.
He said: 'I am very glad and proud to see my work intrigue and inspire other people. I have always been fascinated with photographs of galaxies and other phenomena. This is why I've decided to become an astronomer and will be taking up a Masters degree in astrophysics this autumn.' ( dailymail.co.uk )
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