Circumhorizontal Arc?

This phenomenon was captured on June 19, 2008 at 2pm in the sky over Richland, Washington.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• circumhorizontal
• arc
• sky
• clouds
• rainbow
• weather
• phenomenon
• melissa
• conway

[OverlyExcitedNewJack]

That's a 'refracto-prismatic plane', not a 'circumhorizontal arc'.

[VicTheMouth]

almost positive it's a circumhorizontal arc. I think there's another phenomina which can appear in the same area of the sky relative to the sun which the arc does, but the spectacular coloration of the circumhorizontal arc should distinguish it from anything else yolu will see in the sky in that location

[Getdamoneyng0]

those are chem-trial clouds!

[nickbhalo]

Cloud iridescence does not look like that and nor does it occur that far from the sun, and if it was there would be many other examples in the cloud.

[nickbhalo]

Yes, it is a circumhorizontal arc.

[bapyou]

This is probably an instance of cloud iridescence. It's common with cirrus clouds. Check out any beginning meteorological textbook.

A circumhorizontal arc has a more definite curved shape forming part of a halo around the sun.

[Hurricane765]

@Codenamelumiere Here is the link: w w w. atoptics .co .uk

[Codenamelumiere]

@Hurricane765 - Ok. For sure. Send me the link.I would love to check it out. thx

[Hurricane765]

@Codenamelumiere As for the shape, just because not an entire Arc is visible doesn't mean that it is not still a CHA. Due to it's pure rainbow like colors and position in the sky, it is Still considered a Fragment of a Circumhorizon Arc. If you are still not convinced, I have a perfect website to show you with Ice Halos and many other Atmospheric Optics displays that can Naturally be seen

[Hurricane765]

@Codenamelumiere People and their stupid chemcaial bullshit. Maybe some real science will straighten you out. This is an example of what is called an Ice Halo. That means when tiny ice crystals high in the sky are uniform and of specific shapes and sizes, they act like a prisim and can create a variety of "rainbows" in the sky all year around since no matter what the temperature is at the surface, there is ALWAYS ice a few miles up.