Atmospheric Phenomenen You May or May Never See- Part One

Just a little idea Ive had for sometime. I wanted to share with the ATS community, information about atmospheric phenomenen. Some occur frequently, others are so rare that most of us will never get to see them.

22 degree circular halo

This is probably the most common type of halo. They happen every day somewhere on earth. They can be seen when their is a thin layer of cirrostratus in the sky, and the sun (and moon on occasions) is present. REMINDER NEVER LOOK DIRECTLY AT SUN

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/b23bb77c2e61.jpg[/atsimg]

Sundogs

Thes are also very common. They are often seen in conjuction with the 22 degree
circular halo when the sun is low on the horizon. They usually reflect as a reddish colour, but can exhibit shades of blue, green and yellow. On ATS they are often mistaken for Nibiru :shk:

www.atoptics.co.uk...

Tangent Arcs

Tangent arcs are another frequent halo, that occur with 22 degree halos and sundogs. Tangent arcs occur, when long strands of cirrus cloud are present

Full credit to atoptics.com and Malcolm Garland for this image

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/c761aa2f75b8.jpg[/atsimg]

www.atoptics.co.uk...

Sun Pillars

These are narrow columns of light extending from the sun. They can head both up from the sun, and on occasion down. Tiny ice crystals in the sky refelct the sunlight, giving he appearance of a sun ray. This phenomena has been known to occur with street lamps as well.

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/c3c0aef7cbdb.jpg[/atsimg]

Circumzenithal Arc

This halo resembles and upside down rainbow. Its quite rare, but very beautiful if one is lucky enough to see it.

www.atoptics.co.uk...

Iridescence

Iridescence (also known as Irisation) is a frequent phenomenen that occurs within cirrus and altocumulus clouds. Ice crystals and water droplets diffract and refract sunlight, causing clouds to take on a rainbow effect. On ATS they have been mistaken for earthquake clouds which are a different phenomenen completely

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/7d14aa415ba9.jpg[/atsimg]


www.atoptics.co.uk...

Part Two coming soon




























[edit on 19/8/2009 by OzWeatherman]

S&F interesting... I wonder how many people in the 'general' public mistake such phenomenon as UFO, ET or Paranormal encounters...

Great info to know tho, thanks!

Originally posted by tmayhew01
S&F interesting... I wonder how many people in the 'general' public mistake such phenomenon as UFO, ET or Paranormal encounters...

Great info to know tho, thanks!

Thanks

I will have another part to put up when work becomes a bit more quieter. Atmospheric phenomenen are fanatstic...so if you get any pics of these, please put them up

Thanks for the explanation on the sun pillars.

I was on a cruise with a buddy one time, we saw a spectacular one and were sure aliens had landed.

Hey Oz-

I am the forecast duty officer for the Navy over here out of Norfolk Va, just wondering where your AOR is if you are a working forecaster...

Awesome images - here are a few of a moon halo I took in Sydney on July 19, 2008:

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/e56a583d8a65.jpg[/atsimg]

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/4675e4229133.jpg[/atsimg]

These were 30sec exposures at f/8.0.

Originally posted by wx4caster
Hey Oz-

I am the forecast duty officer for the Navy over here out of Norfolk Va, just wondering where your AOR is if you are a working forecaster...

Im with the Australian Bureau of Meteorology, here in Woomera, Australia

Cool thread man! I love the halo's around the moon during winter here in Vancouver. I'll take a look at some of the photo's from work and see what I can dig up for ya.

oh man, southern hemisphere weather... ewww lol

i remember my satellite course, my instructor used to throw souther hemisphere shots and make us identify cloud elements and their relation to the system... i would hate it because i would always get tripped up trying to reverse things in my brain lol!

reply to post by wx4caster


Haha, yeah we had that with the northern hemisphere weather systems... your all crazy up there.

Everythings spinning in the opposite direction

QB- get those images up

Heres one type of cloud I've always found interesting

Noctilucent clouds over Finland




Image credit Pekka Parviainen.
on Source

Good thread OzWeatherman...

I'm always interested in natural phenomenon and especially the weather.
I have noticed this iridescence a lot lately were i live but i guess it's got a lot to do with the fact that it is summer here...

Now a while back i photographed a phenomenon which i don't see very often and i can't remember what it is called...

It's a rainbow kind of halo around the sun but never completly circular...

Maybe you know what it is...??


S+F for the thread and i will be following along to hopefully see many more beautiful pics.

Peace

[edit on 20/8/2009 by operation mindcrime]

reply to post by QBSneak000


Thats fantastic QB

Too bad we dont get noctilucent clouds this far south

reply to post by operation mindcrime


Thanks for posting that.

Im not sure what you exactly have there, so will have to investigate it a bit more tomorrow. Nice pics

reply to post by OzWeatherman


Found it!!!

It's called a Circumzenithal arc....

But i'm not sure if it's an absolute that it has to be an upside down rainbow aka "a smile in the sky" ,because my picture shows it above the sun instead of below....

Peace

Originally posted by operation mindcrime
reply to post by OzWeatherman

 

It's called a Circumzenithal arc....

But i'm not sure if it's an absolute that it has to be an upside down rainbow aka "a smile in the sky" ,because my picture shows it above the sun instead of below....

Peace

Check my opening post. It actually has Circumzenithal Arc in it

I thought that originally, but I was at work, and about to leave, so I didnt get the chance to see it. At least you know now

reply to post by OzWeatherman


Woops, missed that one.....

But is it a rule that it has to be an upside down rainbow for it to be a circumzenithal arc and if so what the h*ll did i photograph??

Peace

Originally posted by operation mindcrime
reply to post by OzWeatherman

 

Woops, missed that one.....

But is it a rule that it has to be an upside down rainbow for it to be a circumzenithal arc and if so what the h*ll did i photograph??

Peace

Yes and no.....

A couple of questions though:

1. Was the sun low on the horizon?
2. Was the centre of the bow facing the sun?

By the weay, thes are never a full circle....if its is a full circle you have something even more rare and beautiful

Originally posted by OzWeatherman
A couple of questions though:

1. Was the sun low on the horizon?

I had to look up the exact time but it was around 15:30 in the middle of summer. So i guess the sun was just past it's highest point...

2. Was the centre of the bow facing the sun?

I have a bunch of photos of this one event but i guess this one is a bit more clear with the sun showing just above my rooftop (and subsequently probably toasting the CCD of my camera )

By the weay, thes are never a full circle....if its is a full circle you have something even more rare and beautiful

Nope....not a full circle but certainly not a smiley face....

Peace

[edit on 20/8/2009 by operation mindcrime]

reply to post by operation mindcrime


This what you call a kern arc.....

This a full circle and associated with a circumzenithal arc. Both occur when sunlight enters the top of the ice crystals. Most halo phenomenen, it enters the ice crystals side on. Kern arcs have only been seen a few times ever and only photographed once!!!!!!

Below is the one of the only known photographs of a kern arc, taken by Marko Mikkila in Finland 17/11/07.

www.atoptics.co.uk...

If any ATS'er gets a photo of kern arc, please contact me!!!