Wednesday, March 11, 2015

A Circumhorizontal Arc Over Ohio

A Circumhorizontal Arc Over Ohio: APOD: 2014 May 24 - A Circumhorizontal Arc Over Ohio


Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

2014 May 24


See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest resolution version available.
A Circumhorizontal Arc Over Ohio

Image Credit & Copyright: Todd Sladoje
Explanation: Why would clouds appear to be different colors? The reason here is that ice crystals in distant cirrus clouds are acting like little floating prisms. Sometimes known as a fire rainbow for its flame-like appearance, a circumhorizon arc lies parallel to the horizon. For a circumhorizontal arc to be visible, the Sun must be at least 58 degrees high in a sky where cirrus clouds are present. Furthermore, the numerous, flat, hexagonal ice-crystals that compose the cirrus cloud must be aligned horizontally to properly refract sunlight in a collectively similar manner. Therefore, circumhorizontal arcs are quite unusual to see. This circumhorizon display was photographed through a polarized lens above Dublin, Ohio in 2009.

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