can anyone explain this rainbow effect?

[sara3]

http://tinypic.com/r/34pmjrl/5 (fingers crossed for that!)

so, the sun is setting to the right, but to the left there's a pit of a prism in the sky, like a rainbow. it wasn't raining, and anyway.. rainbows are opposite the sun, if you know what I mean!

this was the best pic I got, but the colours were quite vivid for about 10 minutes.

it was very strange.. any ideas please?

[sara3]

mibn2cweus, wow, that's bloody fantastic, thank you so much!

I've never seen such a thing :o)

sherrard, behave!

[sherrardk]

Seriously, I go bonkers if one of the kids points at a rainbow.

[Slapshot]

It's a phenomenon known as mock sun, basically the sun's rays are refracted in the upper cloud layers splitting white light into the spectral colours, the upper cloud layers are made of ice crystals which act like the prisms you used in secondary school science. The sun in the right condition can form a complete circle of mock sun, mocks at the four cardinal points with a full luminous ring as the circumference. The FULL Circle is best seen in the polar regions

Couple of of brilliant images at
http://www.strangestr...th-dimension-sun.html

[sara3]

well tut... rainbows are special and should be pointed at, with lots of oohs and ahhhs!

[sara3]

Slapshot, thank you.. sounds similar to the previous Sun Dog explanation.

fascinating :o)

[sherrardk]

Oohs and aahs are a must, just no pointing (and I believe that for every rainbow there is a second one hiding somewhere, just very rarely actually get to see it).

[jomifl]

I agree with Mibs. its a sundog. They are really very common and sometimes quite striking.

[sara3]

wow, the day I take a photo like in Slapshot's link, I will be ecstatic :o)

[sara3]

sherr, that's a secondary rainbow, sometimes hard to spot. the colours are reversed, you know!

jomifl, I've never seen one before. I'm quite pleased with myself now :o)

[sherrardk]

Excellent, I didn't know that, and I shall be keeping a look out for a sundog (maybe I have seen one but didn't know it was a particular 'thing').

[ummmm]

I want a camera....

[Slapshot]

Sara....should sound right..otherwise I'm in the wrong job ;-) I have a couple of full halo images at home, if i remember I'll dig them out and post them, The were taken in the Antarctic

Sherrarddk - Multiple rainbows are pretty regular and happen when the light is reflected twice inside the rain droplets rather than once, the starts to reflect at slightly different angles which creates the double. When you see two rainbows there is a dark band call Alexanders Band between them (Alexander of Aphrodisias, yep honest, first described the phenomenon) and the colours of the outer, dimmer, band will be inverted. This can continue and up to four or five rainbows have been seen each becoming dimmer and dimmer as you increase the numbers of arcs.....Now a monochrome rainbow is much more exciting

[sherrardk]

Snap ummm

[sara3]

Slapshot, that was excellent, thank you!

I'm so in the wrong job :o/

[sara3]

and I'd love to see your photos :o)

[AlBags]

That ruddy fence could do with some attention .. I know that.
(and what's that trellis one storey up?)

[sara3]

S-C.. jealous!

AlBags.. it's a balcony.. bit of an eyesore if you ask me ;o)

[AlBags]

Steptoe's balcony then : )