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Credit & Copyright: Ute Esser
(U. Heidelberg)
Explanation:
Before the sun rose over the mountains,
iridescent colors danced across the sky.
The unexpected light show was caused by a batch of
iridescent
clouds, and captured on film in early September
in Arolla, Wallis,
Switzerland.
The peak in the foreground of the above image is
Aiguille
de la Tsa.
Iridescent clouds
contain patches of
water
droplets of nearly identical size that can therefore
diffract sunlight in a nearly uniform manner.
Different colors will be deflected
by different amounts and so come to the observer from slightly
different directions.
Iridescent clouds are best seen outside the
glare of the direct Sun although they can occasionally
be seen to
encircle the Sun.
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NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: clouds
Publications with words: clouds
See also: