I need help identifying these orange spiral effects

[Kevin Coleman]

[Nienke Lantman]

I think they are contrails…..

 

[Kevin Coleman]

I considered that but they were vertical and seemed close.  Much be my eye playing tricks.  Thanks!

[Nienke Lantman]

You are right, they look vertical, but are higher up than the grey clouds.

 

[Kevin Coleman]

Thanks Nienke!

[Gail Holt]

I too think they are contrails.  Mabye a couple of RAF jets doing a sunset aerobatic manoeuvre together.  The sun is setting in this photo so I thought about how the clouds are being illuminated.  Have a look at the thin wisps of cirrus around the contrails… both they and the contrails are pink.  An explanation for this is that the cirrus and contrails are high up in the atmosphere and are being lit on the underneath by the setting sun rays which, having further to travel, are the longer wave red rays. The much lower stratocumulus are completely black as they are in shadow, although if you look carefully you can see the distant stratocumulus clouds do also have a pink tinge on the top of the clouds where they are also catching the last rays of the setting sun. Maybe?

Gail

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