Photo: Terri Manz captured this rainbow-colored streak, what appears to be a contrail or vapor trail, around lunchtime Wednesday. It was likely a "circumhorizon/circumhorizontal arc." Other possibilities include an "infralateral arc," or maybe just "cloud irridencence."
The last few weeks have been incredible for anyone interested in light and optics. Viewers like you have submitted shots of stunning sunsets, sun halos, sun dogs, and even a couple more obscure sights like circumzenithal arcs. Well another spotting occurred midday Wednesday.
Viewer Laurie Radmacher emailed me the above photo that her boss took in the sky over Minneapolis.
You'll see what appears to be a very thin streak of cirrus (high, thin, wispy) cloud that is colored like a rainbow. What is it? Ice crystals within a thin cloud that looks like a contrail likely caught the sun's rays just right to create a rainbow in the sky. It
