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A mackerel sky is a term for clouds made up of rows of cirrocumulus or altocumulus clouds displaying an undulating, rippling pattern similar in appearance to fish scales; [1] [2] this is caused by high altitude atmospheric waves. [3]
The yellow color is due to the presence of pollutants in the smoke. Yellowish clouds caused by the presence of nitrogen dioxide are sometimes seen in urban areas with high air pollution levels. [22] Red, orange and pink clouds occur almost entirely at sunrise and sunset and are the result of the scattering of sunlight by the atmosphere.
A sprite over Southeast Asia as seen from space.. Sprites or red sprites are large-scale electric discharges that occur in the mesosphere, high above thunderstorm clouds, or cumulonimbus, giving rise to a varied range of visual shapes flickering in the night sky.
Iridescent mid altitude clouds Iridescent polar stratospheric cloud at sunset over Aberdeen, Scotland Cloud iridescence, seen above the clouds covered with grey clouds, Pondicherry, India. Cloud iridescence or irisation is a colorful optical phenomenon that occurs in a cloud and appears in the general proximity of the Sun or Moon.
Clouds of the genus nimbostratus tend to bring constant precipitation and low visibility. This cloud type normally forms above 2 kilometres (6,600 ft) [10] from altostratus cloud but tends to thicken into the lower levels during the occurrence of precipitation. The top of a nimbostratus deck is usually in the middle level of the troposphere.
Circumhorizontal arcs, especially when only fragments can be seen, are sometimes confused with cloud iridescence. This phenomenon also causes clouds to appear multi-coloured, but it originates from diffraction (typically by liquid water droplets or ice crystals) rather than refraction. The two phenomena can be distinguished by several features.
Lunar corona A solar corona up Beinn Mhòr (South Uist). In meteorology, a corona (plural coronae) is an optical phenomenon produced by the diffraction of sunlight or moonlight (or, occasionally, bright starlight or planetlight) [1] by individual small water droplets and sometimes tiny ice crystals of a cloud or on a foggy glass surface.
This phenomenon leaves the Sun's rays, and the clouds they illuminate, abundantly orange-to-red in colors, which one sees when looking at a sunset or sunrise. For the example of the Sun at zenith, in broad daylight, the sky is blue due to Rayleigh scattering, which also involves the diatomic gases N 2 and O 2.