Iridescent Clouds Exist and They Are Pure Magic

Have you ever looked up to see clouds that looked like floating rainbows?

They’re called Iridescent Clouds and they are one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen!

The Iridescent Clouds are also referred to as “fire rainbows” or “rainbow clouds”. The scientific name is circumhorizontal arcs. They occur when the sun is higher than 58° above the horizon.

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The light of the sun passes through high-altitude cirrus clouds that are made up of hexagonal plate ice crystals. When they align perfectly, the ice crystals act just like a prism.

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This results in the refraction of the light which gives the look of a rainbow in the clouds! I’ve noticed small ones myself but honestly thought it was just a bit of a rainbow showing through.

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But once you start looking at images and video, some of them are truly stunning works of art in the sky that you are lucky to catch! Those are more of a rarity!

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It’s like looking through a crystal! The colors bright and shining and changing shape with the clouds. Absolutely beautiful!

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Have you ever witnessed Iridescent Clouds? I normally turn my head to the skies at night to watch the moon and stars, now I’ll be watching the skies during the day to see if I can catch one of these beauties!