Iridescent Clouds Over Viterbo Italy

April 26, 2019

Iridescenze-con-Fisheye1 (3)

Photographer: Marco Meniero
Summary Authors: Marco Meniero; Jim Foster

The photo above shows a full sky view of iridescent clouds as observed over Viterbo, Italy on February 14, 2019. This view nicely shows that these colorful clouds occur rather close to the solar disk. Iridescent clouds are detached coronae. Diffraction of sunlight about minute water droplets results in overlapping color orders that produce the pastel coloration. Note that the fringes or edges of the clouds are where the color is most pronounced. This is because the droplets composing these mid-level clouds are more uniform here, so the colors are therefore purer. Always use the utmost caution when looking toward the Sun.

Photo Details: Canon Eos 1DXmk2 camera; Canon Fisheye EF8-15mm lens.