Iridescent Cloud

Iridescent Cloud

- Iridescent Altocumulus cloud about 2 hours after sunrise. When viewing this scene without the aid of sunglasses the cloud appeared a very bright white with only a faint hint of color. Only when it is dimmed considerably do the full range of colors become visible. For these images this was done by using camera exposure adjustment only. No filters were used.

- My attention was first drawn to it an intriguing and rapidly changing mackeral cloud formation.

- With the aperture preview button depressed on the camera I could see these rich colors through the viewfinder except that they were typically more vibrant and shimmering than can be shown here.

- Cloud iridescence occurs when sunlight is diffracted by uniformly sized water droplets or ice crystals most commonly in mid level Altocumulus or high level Cirrocumulus.

- Also see this image

- And this image

- Nikon F3, 35mm lens, Fuji Velvia film. 2000 sec at ~f16. No filters used.

© Ern Mainka

Iridescent Cloud belongs to the following groups:

Atmospheric Optics and Gaia - The Living Planet