Corona/Iridescent Cloud

Spotted this on Thursday, between rain showers. It’s a slightly distorted corona, formed by diffraction of sunlight around cloud droplets, splitting the spectrum and producing rainbow-like colors. According to the Atmospheric Optics site, the distortion indicates that the droplet size varies across different parts of the cloud.

This was shot through a window, and I’m 99% certain that the straight line running down the middle of the darker foreground cloud is a reflection from inside the room.

2 thoughts on “Corona

  1. *tries again, typos & all*

    I’m a big baffled. I know I typed up (and am confident I posted) a jealous comment about your photo skills (ie “quickdraw”), but I don’t see it anywhere.

    Anyway, it’s a great shot that reminds me of an image that I failed to capture in its full brilliance.

  2. It worked! Looks like the cache plugin was the problem.

    Thanks. I’ve gotten to where I carry my camera almost everywhere, because I always seem to miss it when I leave it behind. In the case of this photo, I was trying to recapture a view I’d seen that morning, going into the corner conference room once an hour or so (the closest I got was this). So I had the camera in my hand when I looked the other way.

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