Envision appreciating see a massive rainbow that appears to be ablaze– its colors sparkling throughout the sky from perspective to perspective. This effect, though rare, can happen under the right climate condition. It’s generally called a fire rainbow, yet the scientific name is a circumhorizontal arc.
2 special situations must exist to produce a fire rainbow:
1. Cirrus clouds have to exist. They’re slender clouds that exist in the high elevation, where the air is really chilly. The low temperature up there implies the clouds are comprised of millions of hexagonal (or six-sided) ice crystals.
2. Sunshine has to go through the cirrus clouds at a really high angle– greater than 58 degrees to the ground. The rays of sunshine striking the clouds’ crystals produce an impact like sending out a beam via a prism, but multiplied by millions.
Below’s why the fire rainbow happens: Sunshine passes through the upright face of the ice crystal but is then bent downward– or refracted– with the crystal’s bottom face, towards the ground.
In a vacuum, light waves travel in a straight line. But when light hits dense material like glass, water, or ice, it slows down as well as transforms direction, equally as a scuba diver does when entering water. Consequently, sunlight taking a trip via solid ice crystals bends. The refraction of sunshine with the cloud’s countless crystals develops the glittering, fire-like effect.
Along with refraction, the light can be divided into separate bands of tinted light, growing the result. This arc of sparkling color can cover the perspective, which is why it’s called a circumhorizontal arc.
Fire rainbows are unusual, yet when they do appear, they can cover thousands of miles and last for hours.
