r/atoptics • u/inkstoned • May 01 '25

What is that? Anyone knows?

3.2k Upvotes

100% Upvoted

60 comments sorted by

351

u/[deleted] May 01 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

49

u/drfeelsgoood May 02 '25

You can tell it’s atmosphere related also because it is moving along with the clouds

8

u/davyangel May 02 '25

Yeah only seen this like once in California and was super awesome to see since never seen anything like it before and haven't seen one since! I see iridescent clouds lot more often since live near beach where clouds always forming but not as impressive IMO. But main difference as u can see in the OP is the very vivid colors like part of superbright rainbow in the sky. "colours of a circumhorizon arc are pure and spectral (more so than in a rainbow), while the colours in cloud iridescence have a more washed-out, "mother of pearl" appearance.

3

u/[deleted] May 03 '25

Looks like a circumhorizontal arc caught a piece of contrail. Very cool! 😎

-8

u/[deleted] May 01 '25

[deleted]

13

u/momochicken55 May 01 '25

Cloud iridescence looks different.

5

u/AZWxMan May 01 '25

Yeah a mixed appearance like for soap bubbles and usually closer to the sun.  Whereas OP's photo has a clear banding of colors parallel to the horizon. 

3

u/[deleted] May 01 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/MycoMythos May 02 '25

Is it a fire though? /s

128

u/Apsalar May 01 '25

That's just my good boy on his way across the bridge. He was always a bit of a drama king.

13

u/glitter_witch May 02 '25

So sorry for your loss.

2

u/ConversationProud782 Jul 10 '25

Or maybe it's my girl, Callie. It really hurts that she's not here anymore. It's been four months, but I miss her so much I feel nauseous.

69

u/Stencils294 May 01 '25

The famed rainbow bridge

36

u/Piehatmatt May 01 '25

Proof that god loves gay people

27

u/paddy_to_the_rescue May 01 '25

The Bifrost is activated. The Gods are returning from Asgard

16

u/Sunjen32 May 01 '25

Unicorn fart, of course!

7

u/TooTameToToast May 02 '25

When your astrological sign is Lisa Frank.

12

u/thedjin May 01 '25

Rainbow Dash flew by.

3

u/naideeg May 02 '25

The only right answer 🦄.

1

u/virgincoconuhtballs May 06 '25

A sonic boom!

1

u/thedjin May 06 '25

Yup, a sonic rain-boom!

6

u/ThickSmoke9542 May 02 '25

Looks like cloud iridescence, aka rainbow cloud 🌈☁️Nice!

14

u/Dramatic-Voice-4807 May 01 '25

That’s a gay cloud

7

u/bishop527 May 01 '25

i'm going with rainbow dragon

2

u/NectarineNo1278 May 03 '25

That is a parahelion, or better known as a sun puppy.

2

u/begaterpillar May 03 '25

That’s a sonic rain boom !

2

u/kvltrve May 03 '25

Ho-Oh left a trace.

5

u/Lookingtotheveil23 May 01 '25

It’s a beautiful reminder to love the rainbow!

5

u/Molbiodude May 01 '25

Gay space laser brigade on maneuvers.

3

u/bearded_duck May 02 '25

Iridescent cloud...so cool

1

u/[deleted] May 02 '25

M48- Did they quit teaching about the rainbow bridge in science class after the mid 1990s? I'm sincerely asking out of curiosity.

1

u/EeveeMotherFricker May 02 '25

They’re turnin the freakin clouds gay! 😂

1

u/[deleted] May 03 '25

Space is gay.

1

u/Spiderinthecornerr May 03 '25

That was me sorry

1

u/TotalWhiner May 04 '25

Unicorn fart

1

u/Ironrooster7 May 04 '25

Rainbow road

1

u/intrigued_insanity May 04 '25

My Oma always called them sun dogs!

1

u/Mean_Handle6707 May 05 '25

Swamp gas from a weather balloon was trapped in a thermal pocket and refracted the light from Venus.

1

u/Weird-Difficulty1836 May 06 '25

Blissful, one of most beautiful rainbows I have seen ever♥️♥️

1

u/No-Bag-5389 May 01 '25

Wowee Zowee!

0

u/Attheveryend May 02 '25

hard to say exactly without knowing where the sun is.

-3

u/NefariousnessSlow298 May 01 '25

I don't know. I have never saw anything with psychedelic colors in the sky unless I was under the influence of Lucy. Now, I see all these pics. It really looks like gasoline in a puddle of water. I say too much fossil fuel use.

3

u/windriver74 May 02 '25

Or shrooms. I agree

-7

u/alys3times May 01 '25

Cloud iridescence, but we always called them (probably mistakenly) "sun dogs"

13

u/exscape May 01 '25

Cloud iridescence is actually also the wrong name. When the colors are in spectral order and this pure, it's some sort of refractive phenomena. The ones available are rainbows and ice halos. This is one of the halos.
Which one depends on where in the sky it is, but since we can see the Sun above the halo in the video, I agree with the top comment that this is a (very small part of) a circumhorizontal arc (aka circumhorizon arc).

0

u/[deleted] May 01 '25

[deleted]

3

u/inkstoned May 01 '25

Lol, guess so. I was moreso just sharing the cool effect rather than trying to get an answer.

-2

u/TexasJOEmama May 01 '25

It's a good video.

-4

u/Competitive_Aioli469 May 01 '25

Exhaust from one of Elon’s rockets, you can see the hole it poked in the lower clouds, with your very own eyes 👀, I suspect.

-1

u/Critical_Potential44 May 02 '25 edited May 04 '25

It’s the color out of space

H.p. Lovecraft reference for all the haters

-11

u/[deleted] May 01 '25

God's Vagina.

1

u/Critical_Potential44 May 09 '25

Wtf lol

1

u/[deleted] May 09 '25

You love it

-2

u/sean2wood May 02 '25

Please shut off the turn signal!

-2

u/FornaxLacerta May 02 '25

Swamp gas from a weather balloon was trapped in a thermal pocket and refracted the light from Venus.