Brighest Circumzenithal Arc I've ever seen

[Tom Rankin]

There is a somewhat rare phenomenon called the circumzenithal arc, which as the name implies, is a rainbow arc of a circle centered directly over head.

I was pointing out minor parhelic arcs (sun dogs) yesterday to our hiking party, when I noticed the arc overhead. Almost by magic, it started to brighten to an intensity that I had never witnessed. There were high thin clouds and it was sunny and about 0F.

My wife took this shot thru the trees. It does not do the true intensity justice, but here it is:

 

[The Unstrung Harp]

Cool shot!! I've never actually SEEN this in real life. Guess I need to look up more...

 

[Tom Rankin]

Cool shot!! I've never actually SEEN this in real life. Guess I need to look up more...

I strongly recommend looking up once in a while!

There are quite a few phenomena that can be viewed when there are high thin clouds. A ring around the sun or moon, sun dogs, tangent arcs, sun pillars, etc.

 

[Quietman]

Thanks Tom! Now I know what I saw a few years ago outside my house!



Funny, I just took these ones on a flight to Washington DC last week. I believe it is called a "glory".

 

[Tom Rankin]

Thanks Tom! Now I know what I saw a few years ago outside my house!

The first one looks too low to be a c.z.a.

But the glories are great!

 

[MichaelJ]

Cool shot, Tom. You should submit it to Weather Underground, they love stuff like that.

 

[gram]

Here's a link to a similar rainbow effect. Taken from OBP in Franconia Notch.

Looks like my "red" is on top, Tom's red is on the bottom. While my pictures aren't too bright, it was fun to see!

http://picasaweb.google.com/gram123456/OBP?feat=directlink

 

[Tom Rankin]

Here's a link to a similar rainbow effect. Taken from OBP in Franconia Notch.

Looks like my "red" is on top, Tom's red is on the bottom. While my pictures aren't too bright, it was fun to see!

http://picasaweb.google.com/gram123456/OBP?feat=directlink

Interesting, you and Quiteman both have a different arc from mine. I'm not quite sure what you saw, w/o the whole sky as a clue.