Rainbow Cloud

Yesterday on my way home from my downtown area, I saw a rainbow cloud. I actually pulled over to attempt to take a picture of it. Unfortunately my camera on my phone sucks, and in the picture posted you can barely see it, and out of a dozen photos I took, this is the best one. The pinkish area is where the rainbow was. Although you can't see it in the picture, and that may well be because the sun was in the sky not far from where the rainbow streak was, the colors were very intense, far more intense than what is seen in the picture. It did not extend into the blue of the sky, and was not "bowed" like your typical rainbow. It was just this streak. Very strange and very beautiful.

I've seen many rainbows in my day, and this was unlike anything I have seen. Although it was pretty humid, the weather wasn't typical for creating rainbows. The clouds were pretty thick, and it had not rained at all here yesterday, nor did it rain after seeing this, so overall I found it odd for many reasons.

There is speculation that this phenomenon is attached to earthquakes, but I am not in an area that is prone to any, although we did feel the 5.3 that happened in Virginia about a year ago (I slept though it).

I thought that I would post it here to share and to document if there happens to be an earthquake in the Northeast anytime soon.

It will interesting to see if you are correct or if this is just an optical phenomenon.

It would be interesting if there was a correlation.

Come visit Colorado! We get them all the time...but no earthquakes. I didnt see them really until I moved here....love them!

reply to post by ThreeSistersofLoveandLigh


I think this is a sun dog.

2nd

reply to post by radpetey


It might have been, but the sun wasn't low enough on the horizon, as in the case of most sun dogs that appear as brightly colored as this one was, and appeared at the wrong angle (sun dogs are usually at a 22º angle from the sun, this one was in the 70-90º area). Also, the type that you are mentioning are usually bowed, this one was a streak rather than a bow.

Certainly not discounting it.

reply to post by ThreeSistersofLoveandLigh


It certainly looks like a fragment of an arc or ice halo. I was going to say probably a 22º parhelia (sun dog), but since you said it was further from the sun than 22º, It's probably a rarer arc/halo, although I'm not sure what exactly.

It might be a parry arc of some kind, but those are still only around 44º away from the sun.

Good catch either way

I did some further research into this and on THIS site you can see some really good pictures of this phenomenon.

I really wish that I could have gotten a better shot. In all the pictures on the above mentioned site, the rainbows are horizontal. The one I saw was vertical, the colors changing from right to left rather than top to bottom. I've tried enhancing it, but to no avail. Any way you look at it, it was beautiful.

Why has this been moved to the space exploration forum? Ice halos are a terrestrial (atmospheric) phenomena.

reply to post by ThreeSistersofLoveandLigh


The link you posted is talking about circumhorizontal arcs, which although related, are not the same as what you posted.

I get what you are saying about the colours changing - indeed the sequence of colours and their relationship with regards to the position of the sun is one of the clues to identifying which halo/arc is observed.

With CHA's, the colours will always be arranged in horizontal bands, with red at the top, and blue below.

If you want to identify which halo/arc you have, I'd suggest a drawing showing approximately where it was in relation to the sun/horizon for starters. Then get in touch with Les Cowley and see what he says.

These colors in the sky have been known to happen before an EQ and people are hinting at HARRP top..

See if what you saw matches up to anything they've gotten in film on YouTube...put in...rainbows,EQ,HARRP..you'll get a ton of stuff

Lately the clouds around here seem odd in general. Almost seems as if they are "painted". They don't seem "real", they seem too low in the atmosphere, and there are layers of clouds, the "fluffy" ones seeming closer to the ground than they should be.

Just a short time ago, I went out, and noticed that they (the clouds) were unusually pink. Admittedly it is what is considered "twilight" right now. The sun has already set, and it is possible that they appear that way because of that, but usually they aren't as "bright" and at this time the clouds generally appear more of an orange-y color.

The only thing that I have done is re-size this picture to meet ATS guidelines.

This is a link to a post I started about a month ago about a rainbow effect, but this rainbow goes around the sun...

I have been hearing so much about rainbow clouds recently, I had never even heard of them until the last month or so.............

Beautiful though......

www.abovetopsecret.com...

reply to post by ThreeSistersofLoveandLigh


I have noticed a few recently here in Yorkshire, England.. I took a pic of this one at work, then while on my break this morning, I saw your thread about these odd rainbow clouds. In all my 30 years sky gazing, I have never noticed these before.. Hmm

It is just right/center of the image..

reply to post by lewtra


That is almost certainly a sun dog you have there.

It's surprising how many people have never seen them, despite them being very common - we've seen them (in Derbyshire) for 2 days running now, and twice earlier in the week.

Once you know what, and where to look for them, you will see them often if you keep looking for them... and less common halos/arcs too.

reply to post by FireballStorm

I know what you're sayin but the picture I took does'nt do it justice to what we have seen (our cameras suck), I've seen sundogs and they dont look like these.. It looks like the suns rays reflecting moisture in the air, like rainbows form, but on a larger scale to these 'cloud rainbows' (is that official) Anyway, all I know is I have only just noticed them (the past couple of months) and going to do a bit of research.. I know they sometimes show up just before an earthqwake

GEL, even stated that she has noticed them since moving location, so to me it is worth looking into, dont you think

Sorry meant to post this the other day when I saw this thread
There are many types of rainbow clouds - We had some over my home town in UK a couple of years or so ago
Which made the local newspaper front page - No Earthquakes though
Apparently caused by Sunlight refracting off ice crystals in the air
Here is one example I found on the net

To the OP

I have taken liberty to readjust your image in exposure with couple of filters, beautiful image nevertheless and here is the result.





I have my own rainbow cloud taken back in 2009 and it is very rare type of that time of the year in Norway.





And strange sun halo as well… no cold weather just very humid as I recall.





And this is what I got last year in December.... never seen pinksky or clouds in my life before.

Was it like this??

30 min before 2008 China quake.

reply to post by amkia


Thank you. you can really see it well.

Looking at it with the enhancements you can see that most likely it was a sun dog,

This was my first time ever seeing one.

Firstly I should apologize and correct myself. I was rushing a bit and have a lot on my mind at the moment, as I'm getting ready for a few days away observing/photographing Perseid meteors, and I'm supposed to be leaving in a few hours time.

Your photograph appears to show a small section of 22º halo, rather than a sun dog - they are related in that a common 22º sun dog is at the same distance and often superimposed over the common 22º halo.

Your photograph seems to show the sun just outside the frame on the right, and it looks to me like it's roughly 22º away from the halo fragment, but it's difficult to say for sure without more info - did you measure the distance using the outstretched span of your hand at arms length, which is (give or take) equivalent to 22º?

At the end of the day, it looks like a fragment of halo, and it's probably in the right place for one (can you say for sure that it's not?), so I don't see what is strange about it.

Originally posted by lewtra
GEL, even stated that she has noticed them since moving location, so to me it is worth looking into, dont you think

Definitely worth looking into if there was anything unusual or odd about them, but I'm just not seeing it here....

Granted GEL's image apparently shows a less common halo/arc, hence why I suggested contacting an expert in atmospheric optics.

Originally posted by lewtra
I know what you're sayin but the picture I took does'nt do it justice to what we have seen (our cameras suck), I've seen sundogs and they dont look like these.

I beg to differ. I've also seen many sun dogs with my own eyes, and some look just like this, but sun dogs (and other halos/arcs) can vary greatly in appearance.


Here are a few of my own examples. Every one is different, but they are all sun dogs, and there are definitely resemblances between some of them and the other photographs posted in this thread. Keep in mind I use DSLRs pretty much exclusively so I can have full control of exposures, which means there will be differences between my shots and those taken with less flexible cameras.


This one in particular has elements of the image GEL posted. Not the faint vertical section of 22º halo that is just visible mainly above the sun dog.


Taken from the same location and during the same display as the photograph above, but slightly earlier on, here are some partial sun dog/halo fragments.



Partially obscured sun dog.






Here's another shot taken during the same display as the image above.



Not a sun dog or a rainbow, but an unusually bright circumzenithal arc display.

Originally posted by lewtra
It looks like the suns rays reflecting moisture in the air, like rainbows form, but on a larger scale to these 'cloud rainbows' (is that official)

Well, halos and arcs can have bright/vibrant/saturated colors like a true rainbow as well. The CZA in the image above for example. but sun dogs can also be saturated in colour (usually yellow and red in my experience).

Originally posted by lewtra
Anyway, all I know is I have only just noticed them (the past couple of months) and going to do a bit of research..I know they sometimes show up just before an earthqwake

If you mean the video BlackPhoenix posted above, which shows a circumhorizon arc... one coincidence is not really any evidence of a connection.

I know there have been other reports of "earthquake lights" around the time of earthquakes, but from what I have read these are usually more like ball lightning in nature, and nothing like what is in that video.

So we have one video of a CHA which is not *that* uncommon if the conditions are right (the sun has to be high enough in the sky (which depends on your location/latitude) primarily for a CHA to be possible/visible), and (another coincidence!?) they were at the time the footage was taken - I checked myself using planetarium software to show is the sun was high enough in the sky for a CHA at the time.

How often you see the arc depends on where you are. In the USA you might see a circumhorizon arc (CHA) five or more times each summer. In middle latitude Europe you will be lucky to see a CHA once. In northern Europe they are impossible to see at any latitude north of Copenhagen. In comparison, a Parry arc is seen perhaps once a year. CHAs are common in the USA, rare in middle to north Europe.

Source: Is a circumhorizon arc "rare"?

Anyway, I'll be interested to see anything unusual you can dig up on the subject.

Might I suggest, since you said that you like to watch the sky, that you invest in a "less than crap" camera and lens, so you can get a better record of what you see? It would certainly help with identifying unfamiliar phenomena - I'm thinking in particular about wide angle/fish-eye lenses which are very useful for determining where a certain halo or arc may be in relation to the sun.

A perfectly capable DSLR setup can be had for surprisingly little if you don't mind buying second hand. I bought most of my kit on the used market, and am more than happy with most of it. Of course there are potential pit-falls when buying used kit, but I'd be happy to point them out and make suggestions what to look for depending on budget.

Originally posted by amkia
And strange sun halo as well… no cold weather just very humid as I recall.

Nice photos, but there is nothing strange about any of them.

Cold weather is not necessary for ice halos. At the altitude at which the ice crystals that cause ice halos reside, it's well below 0.