[Veronica McDonald]

Unusual Rainbow​

Saw this unusual rainbow in the sky a few weeks ago, there had been no rain for it to appear. Is this a phonomon? It was a feast day of a saint in the Catholic faith.

 

[Jan A]

This photo shows a rare phenomenon, a rainbow fragment. Well done on capturing a photo of it. Thank you for sharing it. See information below from www.thoughtco.com.

Iridescent Clouds: If you've ever spotted clouds high up in the sky with colours reminiscent of the film on a soap bubble or of oil film on puddles, then you've most likely seen the fairly rare iridescent cloud. Don't let the name fool you... an iridescent cloud isn't a cloud at all; it's simply the occurrence of colours in clouds. (In other words, any cloud type can have iridescence.) Iridescence tends to form high up in the sky near clouds, like cirrus or lenticular, that are made up of especially tiny ice crystals or water droplets. The tiny ice and water droplet sizes cause sunlight to be diffracted—it is obstructed by the droplets, is bent, and spreads out into its spectral colours. And so, you get a rainbow-like effect in the clouds. The colours in an iridescent cloud tend to be pastel, so you'll see pink, mint, and lavender rather than red, green, and indigo.

Sun dogs: Sun dogs offer another opportunity to see fragments of rainbow in the sky. Like iridescent clouds, they too form whenever sunlight interacts with ice crystals—except the crystals must be larger and plate-shaped. As sunlight hits the ice crystal plates, it is refracted—it passes through the crystals, is bent, and spreads out into its spectral colours. Since the sunlight is refracted horizontally, the sun dog always appears directly to the left or right side of the Sun. This often occurs in pairs, with one on each side of the Sun. Because sun dog formation depends on the presence of large ice crystals in the air, you'll most likely spot them in very cold winter weather; although, they can form in any season if high and cold cirrus or cirrostratus ice-containing clouds exist.

 

[Sethia Soliman]

Unusual Rainbow​

Saw this unusual rainbow in the sky a few weeks ago, there had been no rain for it to appear. Is this a phonomon? It was a feast day of a saint in the Catholic faith.

Oh my goodness! I can't believe you captured a rare phenomenon

 

[Veronica McDonald]

Oh my goodness! I can't believe you captured a rare phenomenon

I really did and took it on my phone. Earlier that day I saw the same thing over my grandsons school.

 

[melnugro]

This photo shows a rare phenomenon, a rainbow fragment. Well done on capturing a photo of it. Thank you for sharing it. See information below from www.thoughtco.com.

Iridescent Clouds: If you've ever spotted clouds high up in the sky with colours reminiscent of the film on a soap bubble or of oil film on puddles, then you've most likely seen the fairly rare iridescent cloud. Don't let the name fool you... an iridescent cloud isn't a cloud at all; it's simply the occurrence of colours in clouds. (In other words, any cloud type can have iridescence.) Iridescence tends to form high up in the sky near clouds, like cirrus or lenticular, that are made up of especially tiny ice crystals or water droplets. The tiny ice and water droplet sizes cause sunlight to be diffracted—it is obstructed by the droplets, is bent, and spreads out into its spectral colours. And so, you get a rainbow-like effect in the clouds. The colours in an iridescent cloud tend to be pastel, so you'll see pink, mint, and lavender rather than red, green, and indigo.

Sun dogs: Sun dogs offer another opportunity to see fragments of rainbow in the sky. Like iridescent clouds, they too form whenever sunlight interacts with ice crystals—except the crystals must be larger and plate-shaped. As sunlight hits the ice crystal plates, it is refracted—it passes through the crystals, is bent, and spreads out into its spectral colours. Since the sunlight is refracted horizontally, the sun dog always appears directly to the left or right side of the Sun. This often occurs in pairs, with one on each side of the Sun. Because sun dog formation depends on the presence of large ice crystals in the air, you'll most likely spot them in very cold winter weather; although, they can form in any season if high and cold cirrus or cirrostratus ice-containing clouds exist.

YA LEARN SOMETHING NEW EVERYDAY ! THANK YOU JAN A.

 

[Aggie]

Hi. I also captured a similar thing here is SA mid July. Interesting to learn it was most likely an 'iridescent cloud'. I thought it looked like an oil slick perhaps from a plane that had passed over.

 

[Jarred Santos]

Hi. I also captured a similar thing here is SA mid July. Interesting to learn it was most likely an 'iridescent cloud'. I thought it looked like an oil slick perhaps from a plane that had passed over.

Wow, it looks like a blanket's being pulled over the sky!