Can anyone explain the "melting" of the sun here?

[paulca]

Just the opening shot as the sun "emerges" from the fog layer it briefly appears to expand and "clings" to the fog top until it appears to pull itself free and resolve into a normal sun (with an added annoying flare fake sun).

It reminded me immediately of "kissing shadows" and I can't for the life of me remember the name of that effect, even if this is or isn't related.

I expect it's just the fog "glowing" and slightly refracting making it appear to solidify out of the fog.

 

[Sky]

You have caught the sun with the top of an inversion cutting through the middle of it. The haze and particulates held within the inversion are causing the light (photons) to scatter and effectively spread the light. This is showing perfectly the difference between hard and soft light and the way a diffuser panel or softbox works.

 

[paulca]

Good point on the inversion. I have an old GoPro video of flying a paraglider to the top of a thermal when everyone hit the "roof", ended up at the same height and literally stopped climbing almost with a bump. You can see below is hazy and the horizon disappears but the sky above it crystal clear deep blue.

I didn't see fog and think inversion, but of course there is and that is what causes fog. Cold moist 100% relative humidity air, capped by a warmer layer, preventing the cold moist air from rising, instead it's forced to condense into fog. Virtually dead calm, so no mixing forces and hot and cold air would rather not mix.

 

[Sky]

Exactly, you've got it.

I've lost count of the amount of times I've been stuck at the top of inversions whilst gliding (hang gliding and paragliding too). It's great when you get a thermal strong enough to break through and then a fantastic clear sky once you've 'punched' through.

 

[paulca]

Exactly, you've got it.

I've lost count of the amount of times I've been stuck at the top of inversions whilst gliding (hang gliding and paragliding too). It's great when you get a thermal strong enough to break through and then a fantastic clear sky once you've 'punched' through.

Yes, but as a beginner on my first thermal flight, being at 5600ft and watching a small Cessna navigating the valley below me... I was starting to feel exposed and cold, even though it was 32*C at launch. The vultures that I'd thermalled up with departed about 10 seconds before it all suddenly switched off and we all idled back to several thousand feet over the landing field. The experienced guys on hearing there was beer in the landing field, SAT'd and otherwise made it to the landing field pretty quick, while us newbies floated around like jelly fish making figure 8s for several thousand feet.
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[Sky]

Ah yes, I remember my first thermals as well as I can remember my first XC flight (early 1980s) and first serious height gains and reaching for the oxygen. Great times and I really miss them.