Optical Phenomena Volume IV
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Volume IV mustn’t begin without a nod to a most amazing finalĀ imageĀ via the link posted to Volume III. Thank you for a phenomenal wrap up, George! That and others in the series are worth viewing again and again.
Below, not nearly as extraordinary, but (to my eye) possessing a quiet beauty all its own, is a more common 22Ė halo. It appeared in the late afternoon sky today, casting rays and shadows as it rested on a contrail.
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How wonderful everyone! Keelin your subtle, yet beautiful halo is a treat for the eyes. Especially with the contrail floating quietly by. And Hans your beautiful sun mermaid is a beautiful sight to see in the sky. And finally Michael, that is one amazing iridescent cloud. How did you happen to get such a picture? Below is an image that almost is a pair with Hans along with its little child.
Father and Daughter
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Haha, itās a family affair so it seems Gregory. And great colors on your iridescence Michael.
Here is a link to one of my favorite sites about optical phenomena Ā with a recent unique observation. For those who remember him, also the Crow pops up in the comments on the phenomenon.
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Gregory..I generallyĀ underexpose iridescenceĀ shots 1 to 2 F stops, even with camera set on “spot” metering. The sun washes out color when iridescence is close to the sun. During processing I bring the colors to brightness and saturation IĀ like.Ā There seems only a moment when the lite bluesĀ pop out. My timing was successful with this shot.
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Don..No I don’t use a polarizing filter. I prefer to use programing presets in the camera software for all my cloud shots. With todays post processing software, Adobe Lightroom is what I use,Ā filters just don’t seem a needed investment. There still is the idea that ..if an accident happens, a broken filter is cheaper than a busted lens. Just remember you areĀ putting another piece of glass between the subject and the recording material…Polarizing filters run into trouble with the wide angle shots due to nature of what and how extraneous light is being filtered out..Dark band can happen beyond the 90 degree axis from the sun. Any way, I have one but I don’t use it.
Shooting iridescence is a challenge. Focus can be difficult. The near proximity to the sun makes lens flares likely. and again,getting the right exposureĀ a gamble. I shoot 1 to 2 F stops under and take multipleĀ shots each with a different exposure. I have learned an approximation on how near to the sunĀ to make how much of an ” adjustment” in exposure to get good color.
One trick I learned with a pocket camera..is point the camera at the sun or very near to it to get the camera to expose as if its very brite,,then shoot the iridescence..Its like underexsposing.
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Michael – I notice that iridescence is easier to spot with the naked eye when I have sunglasses on; that would seem to correspond to your ‘underexposing’ tips.
I’ve used a polarizing filter when shooting cirrus clouds, trying to increase the contrast between the white of the cloud and the blueness/darkness of the sky – an effort to show their ‘wispiness’. That seems to work pretty well most of the time (but I’m not shooting close to the sun either). I look at the sky through the (circular) polarizing filter, twist it see what the different positions will hopefully produce before adding it to the lens (usually between 20mm-35mm focal length).
I’m still experimenting ; your tips are very helpful. THANKS!!
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Lunar Halo over Phoenix Az 3/6/20
ASA 800..4 sec at f5.6.Ā Tripod
Variable Wide Angle lens @ 20mm
Post Processing (Adobe Lightroom)Ā crop and color adjustment, removing yellow to red color shift from city lights reflecting off of clouds. Also increase in contrast and clarity with increase in whites and highlights.
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Wow! Gorgeous images above, Hans, Michael, and Gregory.
While Iām used to looking up, the occasion below was a good reminder to look up even further. There was more to be seen here, but a faint sundog (cropped from this image) required too much post-productionĀ tweaking to be included here.
Optical Delights -
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This is such a great little community! Until I saw this thread a couple of days ago, I had not been paying attention to Light Effects (except rainbows and the occasional Sun Pillar)— and then when I was out and about on a Skyjourn yesterday, something really cool showed up— my first experience with iridescence— thank you all!Ā
The First Iridescence is Always Free…
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I saw another version of your Optical Delights on the gallery Keelin. Very nice. A delight for sure.
Daniel, a sun pillar is rather rare for me. It is a nice one. I am sure you will spot more optical phenomena when you look after them when the conditions are there.Ā I like your free iridescence.
One almost can’t tell from the picture but next one is a true sundog . The reds are already shifted to the right (or rather the cloud already shifted to the left) leaving only a hint of blues and the bright whites.
Birds Of A Feather Just A Bit Later
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A beautiful serving of āfreeā iridescence, Daniel! And Hans, I love the almost B&W look and composition of your sundog. The sun pillar is a lovely image of serenity, and what a thrill to catch that CZA! Again, the composition makes it art with that double chalkline trail.
A couple of days ago, just a wee bit of iridescence below a soft coronal glow.
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Thank you for kind words, Hans. And if that is just the Tale Of The Dog, I can only imagine what the rest of that puppy might have looked like. What a wonder! And I cannot choose a favorite from your duo above, each one having its own special appeal. Magic moments there.
In the photo below, Iād never seen a color display quite like this beforeāan almost Saturn-like ring with a faint echo of it below. Have you an idea what might have caused this display?
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Keelin, I see clearly left under the sun the bright colors you mention but also colors that surround the sun. This seems to me to be iridescence. It often shows rather close to the sun. A ring around the sun is the corona which is basically the same effect as iridescence. The corona might have been better visible with the naked eye (always be careful to protect your eyes looking in the direction of the sun!) but is difficult to capture with too much back-light from the sun and thus might be much less visible on the picture being drowned in the whites of the sun. This is what atoptics says about it:
Does that makes sense?
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Ah, yes, that makes sense, thank you, Hans. And agreed, ātis best to be over-cautious with these dazzling displays. Once noticed, I try to aim the camera without looking directly at the area again, and just crop the photo later. A bit of a hit-or-miss approach, but better than risking the eye that still sees fairly well!
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Great captures everyone! I’ve been more appreciative of what clouds can do with colors as I have a job that constantly puts me outside. I looked up the other day and saw some of the purest colors I have ever seen. I finally captured a circumhorizontal arc! This picture is from my camera and so it isn’t the greatest quality but it’s still breathtaking to look at.
Enjoy!
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Quite a catch Sheryl from your roof. I hope to see more of that from you.
And Gregory as well with a brightly colored CHA. I check the sky every day for a CHA since it are just a bit more than two months over here that the sun is high enough to enable it to appear, but unfortunately I have not caught one yet.
You spotted some great iridescence Keelin. Thank you about the recent CAD with my 22 degrees halo. I was truly surprised to see it this way in a CAD because the moment I spotted that one I spotted only the altostratus. Although usually maybe a rather boring cloud it has its own beauty when the sunlight shines through. Only afterwards I saw the 22 degrees halo on it and it made me doubt the altostratus because a halo in altostratus is a bit of an exception. No doubts anymore now.
Btw: I hope you have seen the comet Neowise, Keelin? It is amazing to be able to see it with the naked eye. I had several occasions for it to see but I did not succeed to make a good picture.
A sundog that tries to hide. There is no need for that, isn’t it?
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Finally, a chance to catch up with this colorful topic…
Sheryl, that extraordinary display must have had you dancing on the roof of your shop! Hope you have many more such sightings and join us here often.
Gregory, congratulations on capturing that long, beautiful CHA!
And Hans, what a bloominā beauty over Bloemendaal you shared with everyone via the CAS Gallery this morning! Your Half A Halo above is another one, albeit with subtle coloring, and I love the contrast in the photo above that one with your shy sundog.
Here is one I found hiding in the archives, the sun caught in a spiderweb of cloud.
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Hi everybody, long time no visit here and I see some new people and lots of beautiful things. I recently shot what I thought was a 22 degree halo, but then it struck me that it’s oval, so I did some looking up. Atoptics says it’s a circumscribed halo. Interesting how its shape varies with the height of the sun.
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Next one puzzles me a bit. I took this picture in a split second while distracted by my cat who wanted to do dangerous things by climbing out the window I was hanging out. I just thought it was iridescence but later I saw the regular pattern of colors with reds up and blues low. No CZA for sure for it was too low. It still might be iridescence but a small segment of a 22 degrees halo is also possible for it is taken with 400 mm. Wish I had more peace at the moment I spotted this to check the circumstances better. When the cat left the colors were also left.
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A classic returns – 40 odd years ago someone dragged me outside one freezing winter afternoon to look at Ā a halo display. I remember (I’m sure memory has hyped it up) magnificent arcs everywhere, each finely scribed across a milky blue sky. They were my very first ice-halos. Ā I was hooked! Ā But, how to find out their names? How they formed and more about them without the web? Ā A search of bookshops unearthed Robert Greenlerās book āRainbows, Halos, and Gloriesā – now a venerated classic by one of the fathers of atmospheric optics. Ā It was pure gold. It got me going on all things optical up there and it’s inspired so many others to look up and search the skies. Itās sadly been unavailable for years but Bob, now a friend and colleague, tells me its back. More about it at – https://spie.org/Publications/Book/2573016?SSO=1
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A classic returns – 40 odd years ago someone dragged me outside one freezing winter afternoon to look at Ā a halo display. I remember (I’m sure memory has hyped it up) magnificent arcs everywhere, each finely scribed across a milky blue sky. They were my very first ice-halos. Ā I was hooked! Ā But, how to find out their names? How they formed and more about them without the web? Ā A search of bookshops unearthed Robert Greenlerās book āRainbows, Halos, and Gloriesā – now a venerated classic by one of the fathers of atmospheric optics. Ā It was pure gold. It got me going on all things optical up there and it’s inspired so many others to look up and search the skies. Itās sadly been unavailable for years but Bob, now a friend and colleague, tells me its back. More about it at – https://spie.org/Publications/Book/2573016?SSO=1
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Thank you so much for this info, Les! I share your excitement with “all things opticalā and look forward to ordering the recommended book ASAP.
By the way, I noticed (via the Color thread this morning) that Hans mentioned heās been wanting to reply to you directly here, but keeps encountering a glitch when attempting to post to this thread. Hopefully, soon fixed!
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Best wishes to all! May lots of optical phenomena and clouds be on your path.
Anyway great halos Michael and Keelin.
To Les:
Thank you for sharing the information of the reissue of the book by Greenler. I am very interested. It is also great to read how your enthusiasm for halos was started. I love your unsurpassed website!
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Hello again everyone! Today I have for you my first decently bright circumzenithal arc! I just happened to be looking up, and what do you know, it was there! A few of these were adjusted for contrast purposes, but the second image is pretty close to what I saw. Oh and there’s a sundog in there as well.
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Hi Donatella – The clouds are produced as humid air flows over the upper surface of the wings. Ā The air travels faster there and expands. Ā As it expands it cools making the water vapour in it condense into tiny droplets – clouds. Ā Sometimes these clouds show bright iridescent colours. Ā More here – https://www.atoptics.co.uk/fz164.htm
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Beautiful and unusual visual treats above (Redbow, Cloudbow, Moon Iridescence, CZA and Sundog, and wing clouds as well! Wow! Thanks to all for sharing here.
Hans, were those Nacreous clouds in your Iridescent Tongue and The complete picture? They appear to have that pearly look.
Nothing mysterious below, just a nice surprise on an afternoon walk.
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I am still impressed by the capture of the plane by Donatella with the clouds on its wings and the explanation by Les Cowley as well.
No, unfortunately is was no nacreous in the Tongue I posted Keelin although it has similarities. Nacreous is very rare to observe over here in the Netherlands. Nevertheless iridescence is equally beautiful and always a surprise on a afternoon walk (a very beautiful one!) also when it is just a Weak Showing (Ruth) and a wheel in the sky is even more surprising (Gregory) not to mention your CZA. Love the third picture of your series above.
Iridescent Burger
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New dune form aurora, and blue aurora
Secrets behind natureās spectacular shows in the sky | Register | The Times
The above is a link but again, it does not copy as a link. The article refers to bit.ly/33eaJ0M which you can copy and Google for the dune form.
bit.ly/3uhKX7D for the AGU Advances magazine article which published the dune form article.
bit.ly/2SqEF7S for the blue aurora
All three bit.ly work for me.
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Thank you Hygge for sharing this great info. Dunes of aurora. When I google myself with ‘dunes aurora Canada’ I found next link with an explanation of the phenomenon and a little film. It seems to be rare.
You’d be lucky to see these dunes
I am not sure whether this is one of the links you already provided. Somehow they didn’t work for me.
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Thank you, Hans and Ruth. Oh, I could enjoy some splendid dreams on that Colored Airbag, Hans! And Ruth, your Slim and Shy halos are still cause for celebration. And isnāt it a sweet surprise when youāve been looking down at yard work, then look up to find treats like weāve been seeing? Even just a touch of iridescence can make my day.
Just A Touch -
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Yard work does always pay off Ruth. Surely a great one for the gallery!
I envy your Layered Delight Keelin. What a beauty. I would have liked to see you dancing in the streets.
A few days ago we had some noctilucent clouds while in the seas there was Noctiluca scintillans (an alga that lights up when disturbed). Two nocturnal phenomena together. Very special.
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I had to laugh about your Front Row Seats Keelin. It are always the ones with a lot of hair or hats that are in front of you. Since I lack already for a long time the appearance of some some optical phenomena I took a dive in my archive and to my surprise I found your fellows watching another show.
They Must Be Big Fans
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On a warm day, Iāve gone back to view your Popsicle, Ruth. Thanks for the refreshing treat! Wasnāt sure it would still be there with that mystery animal about to devour it. And Barely There might be subtle, but still brings a smile. Also want to say WOW! on your double rainbow in the Gallery today ā Congratulations! I had a feeling that was yours even before spotting the credit. It has your signature style.
And so glad you enjoyed the kiddie matinee, Hans! If the show was anything like your Looking Into The Sun, Iād stay for another viewing. It is mesmerizing.
Heading back to the archives again for a photo Iād cropped differently and posted to the B&W topic awhile back. Here it is with the color that caught my eye.
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Optical Delights
A Wee Bit OfĀ Late Afternoon Iridescence
Hi everybody, long time no visit here and I see some new people and lots of beautiful things. I recently shot what I thought was a 22 degree halo, but then it struck me that it’s oval, so I did some looking up. Atoptics says it’s a circumscribed halo. Interesting how its shape varies with the height of the sun.
A Weak Showing
Grandmother Moon
Proud Moon
Lustrous Morning, Then Started Snowing
Partial Halo, Full Joy
Halo Hoopla
Just A Touch
Layered Delight
Front Row Seats
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