What is this phenomenon in the sky?

[gnrlmike]

Shot this from a plane a little over 2 years ago. I tried the web - Norton rings look similar but are a lot, lot smaller. In fact they are not more than couple mm in diameter. This one was huge and as the plane changed direction, it disappeared. Sun was directly opposite from the rings bouncing off the clouds and using the window as a prizm. At least this is my explanation.

http://gnrlmike.zenfolio.com/img/v3/p776001453.jpg

http://gnrlmike.zenfolio.com/img/v3/p689268228.jpg

http://gnrlmike.zenfolio.com/img/v3/p974058842.jpg

[NickSimcheck]

The rings were about the clouds, not on the window correct?

Humidity created a prizm maybe?

[gnrlmike]

yep, the clouds. I looked through the other window and it was the same. I guess if I can call it a perfect rainbow?

[S.Horton]

SWAG - A rainbow, but from a plane.

http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=rainbow+from+a+plane&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wi

[gnrlmike]

Thank you Sam. Followed the link - glad I am not alone. I remember I did the search back then, but cam with nothing. I was sorting my pics, and came back to this unsloved mystery.

[JWright]

It's something in the way the windows of the aircraft are manufactured and how they interact with the lens. I got a similar effect through the window of a small business jet back in October.

http://johnwright.smugmug.com/photos/210972421-M.jpg

Here's the plane the shot was taken from:

http://johnwright.smugmug.com/photos/210280525-M.jpg

[FlyingPhotog]

It's a rainbow caused by the light refracting around your airplane. The center of the rainbow is the shadow of the plane. In air combat, pilots use them as a way to know when they are exactly up sun of an adversary. If you keep your adversary directly in the center as you dive on them, they won't see you because you are coming directly out of the sun.

[gnrlmike]

To JWright: Actually the effect was visible without looking through the lens. Pictures are washed out compared to what I saw (at least as I remember now)

Thanks FlyingPhotog for info (you never know maybe it can be useful some day :)

[JWright]

To JWright: Actually the effect was visible without looking through the lens. Pictures are washed out compared to what I saw (at least as I remember now)



It seemed more pronounced to me when I was looking through the camera. That's not to say there aren't differences in the windows of different aircraft.

[perryge]

It's due to the birefringent nature of airplane windows - try shooting out a plane window with a polariser, you can get some crazy colours sometimes.

[PacAce]

It seemed more pronounced to me when I was looking through the camera. That's not to say there aren't differences in the windows of different aircraft.

It's due to the birefringent nature of airplane windows - try shooting out a plane window with a polariser, you can get some crazy colours sometimes.
Yes, you guys are correct that you can get a rainbow effect when shooting through the aircraft plastic window, especially with a polarizing lens, but in this case, Sam and FlyingPhoto are correct. That is a halo rainbow on the clouds. If you look very closely, you'll even be able to see the shadow of the aircraft in the center of the rainbow. :)

[Wazza]

Seeing rainbow effects from aircraft are always fun, no matter how they're created

http://www.warrenwilliams.co.nz/gallery/album/landscapes/fiji/slides/46.html

[20droger]

It is called a glory, and is commonly seen from aircraft or mountain tops, althouugh it can be seen from ground level when conditions are just right.
Look here (http://polarization.com/rainbow/rainbow2.html) for a simple explanation of this and other reflective phenomena.

[jrader]

It's a rainbow caused by the light refracting around your airplane. The center of the rainbow is the shadow of the plane. In air combat, pilots use them as a way to know when they are exactly up sun of an adversary. If you keep your adversary directly in the center as you dive on them, they won't see you because you are coming directly out of the sun.


This would be the correct answer....

[20droger]

I disagree. Feel free to look up this phenomenon in any text on atmospheric optics and you will see that the airplane does nothing to the light except create the shadow. It is a phenomenon of reflection from the water droplets in the cloud. There is no refraction around the plane.

The phenomenon, as I said, is very common. It is typically seen from airplanes and mountain tops only because it occurs 180° from the position of the sun, which tends to be above the clouds when it is visible. The viewer must therefore also be above the clouds to see the glory.

[Elphaba]

The gentleman that runs the site below is an expert in atmospheric optics (his expertise is used by NASA on their Space Weather site, at times)... you can get some info there (he lists glories as not being a rainbow)

http://www.atoptics.co.uk/droplets/gloab.htm

[FlyingPhotog]

^^^

Thanks for the link. Score one for science.

[vwschwartz]

im going to guess there was a garbage dump below those clowds and that was just some form of toxic waste rising into the atsmophere :)

[20droger]

im going to guess there was a garbage dump below those clowds and that was just some form of toxic waste rising into the atsmophere :)
That's the advantage of living downwind of a nuclear plant. I no longer need to turn on a light to read in bed.

On the con side, I can no long shoot film. It always comes out fogged.