Fire Rainbow

Fire Rainbow taken in the skies above Moray Scotland
This rainbow is formed by plate shaped ice crystals in high altitude clouds

Although such fire rainbows are relatively common in the United States, they are a rarer sight in northern Europe where the sun less frequently has the required elevation needed for the phenomenon to occur.

www.dailymail.co.uk...
Amazing

Cran

reply to post by cranspace
That, sir, is NO fire rainbow.

Indeed!

Was excited for a second there, should have known better

Quick! Someone call the authorities! Some stole the original post!

Maybe we can find it before it gets too far!

ETA...actually that's an awesome pic! Seen those a few times here in the states. Used to have a picture of my own somewhere.

Thanks for sharing!

reply to post by edaced4

Quick! Someone call the authorities! Some stole the original post

Found it

Cran

reply to post by cranspace


The fire rainbow is the rarest of all naturally occurring phenomena the clouds must be cirrus and at an altitude of 20,000 feet at least there must be just the right amount of ice crystals as well

The sun has to hit the clouds at exactly 58 degrees. It makes the rainbow appear to be on fire, hence the name. It’s actually cold as ice, though. In the weather world, the phenomena is known as a circumhorizontal arc.

www.omg-facts.com...

Cran

reply to post by cranspace


I never heard of a fire rainbow, but it is very awesome. Nice find.

Like your avatar.

Originally posted by cranspace

The image you posted above, which shows a circumhorizon arc ("fire rainbow" seems to be what people have started calling them, despite the name being misleading - see the link above), is NOT the same phenomena as the phenomena in the OP.

A circumhorizon arc is a type of halo, unlike the phenomena in the OP, which I'm not sure how to classify, but it certainly is not a circumhorizon arc. Notice how some of the colours have mixed into adjacent colours. Halos can't do this.

If look at other images of circumhorizon arcs, all of them are blue underneath, going through, green, yellow, orange, and then red on top, hence why people are calling them "fire rainbows".



Source: wikipedia

The Daily Mail is not a reliable source for accurate info, however it is a very interesting image, and I'd love to see an expert opinion on what we are seeing here.

reply to post by FireballStorm

I'd love to see an expert opinion on what we are seeing here.

Star for that
I to would like hear from any one who has seen one of these or has expert knowledege of this phenonema

Cran