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> from: "Dr S Curtis (Staff)" <s.curtis_at_CS.STIR.AC.UK>
> date: Tue, 11 Jun 2002 17:25:36
> to: METEOPTIC_at_listserv.funet.fi
> subject: Re: What is *that*?
>
> I am sitting here at my desk puzzling what on earth is *that*.
> It looks for all the world like a sundog, but it's in the
> wrong place!!!!
>
> It's a sundog-lookalike, against the backdrop of a streak of
> cloud, just at the top of the cloud (ie not all the way down
> so not part of a halo). It's a patch of light, not an arc or
> halo or anything.
>
> It's 4.20pm UT, I'm at 56N, 3.75ish deg W, sun is
> (oh gosh, vertical heights...)
> um, about 30-something degrees high in the western sky,
> sundog lookalike is distinctly *lower* in the sky, to the
south-west-ish,
> definitely not on a level like a sundog is, more like 20-something
> degrees above the horizon, or maybe 17,18,19.
>
>
> Sorta (fixed width font)
>
>
> Sun
>
> ?
>
>
>
> ----S-------------------------------W-------------
>
>
> Angular distance between sun is two lots of thumb-to-pinkie
> distance, so if one lot of thumb-to-pinkie is the usual 22, then
> this is about 44.
>
> Red is innermost, nearer the sun, the colours change nicely
> through the rainbow hues to blue, so blue on the left, red on the right.
> Nice rainbow colours, better saturation than a sundog usually,
> reminds me of a picture of a circumhorizontal arc I once saw, that
> had nice strong colours.
>
> Anyway, it's gone now. But does anyone have any ideas what it was?
>
> Sharon
> --
> s.curtis_at_cs.stir.ac.uk
> www.cs.stir.ac.uk/~scu/
Sharon
>From your description it sounds to me that you observed a small section of
an infralateral arc. Coincidently, I have been in a similar situation
myself last August. All colours of the rainbow can be seen in Infralateral
arcs (similar to circumhorizontal arcs) and your other useful clue is the
fact that the phenomena was two hand widths (from thumb to little finger
and at arms length) from the sun.
Maybe listees might be able to confirm this as this is the only thing I
can think of at the moment.
The below website should make things much clearer.
http://www.sundog.clara.co.uk/atoptics/phenom.htm (click on ice halos
and next click on infrequent halos).
Kevin
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