Sunday, February 04, 2007

You've Probably Already Seen This....


Since it's so wintry out and that can be depressing (at least to me), I thought I would post a beautiful picture to brighten the day.

This is a fire rainbow (circumhorizonal arc) which is the rarest of all naturally occurring atmospheric phenomena.

The picture was taken June 3, 2006 on the Idaho-Washington border. The event lasted about 1 hour.

A precise set of circumstances must manifest themselves for this phenomenon to occur, which is why photos of fire rainbows are so rare.

22 comments:

Anonymous said...

That photo really has made a big impact....as it should! I featured it on my blog on August 3rd. It is worth the repetition.

Squirl said...

This is gorgeous! You know how I love cloud pictures anyway.

dmmgmfm said...

Bonita, I am always the last to the dinner table too. :)

Squirl, I noticed and you have some awesome ones on your blog!

threecollie said...

I had seen it a few weeks ago, but I am delighted to be reminded and to see it again. so lovely. thanks!

Mary said...

Thanks for the break from my work here. I had to look at that several times. Beautiful!!! (lucky photographer).

Anvilcloud said...

It's a great photo. I think I either missed it on Bonita's blog or have totally forgotten it.

dmmgmfm said...

Threecollie, I figured this picture had made the rounds, but it is such a wonderful photo and things are so bleak, weather-wise right now, it seemed a pleasant photo to post.

Mary, I wonder who the photographer is? I looked around a bit, but didn't see a name associated with it on the internet.

dmmgmfm said...

AC, I don't remember seeing it either, but I did pass the 50 year mark around that time...

Anonymous said...

Never heard of such a thing. Probably will never see one I guess. It is really pretty!

Dysd Housewife said...

WOW~ Thats stunning! Would LOVE to see that in real life!

Unknown said...

Hmmm... Blogger just devoured my last comment. Grrrrrr....

Well, this is a lovely photo! I'd never seen a fire rainbow before. The photo adds proof to my theory that this is perhaps the most magical planet of all.

Ginnie said...

A fire rainbow! What an apt title and, since I have an almost mystical relationship with rainbows, I would give anything to see one "on fire" as this one surely is. It is magnificent.
PS: I'm glad you're trying TaiChi, just the warmup exercises do it for me.

dmmgmfm said...

Butterfly, it would be awesome to see one in real life...with camera in hand of course.

DH, I'm with ya!

Potatoprint, you're right, it is an amazing planet.

Ginnie, I love rainbows too, and once caught a double rainbow at my dad's that was splendid. Unfortunately I didn't have a very good camera at the time, so the shots didn't turn out too well. The neat thing about it was that our neighbor Lois (age 82) had never seen one and didn't see the one that afternoon, but I was able to print off the shots I had taken, so she was happy.

I'm really like Tai Chi, thanks for suggesting it!

LittlePea said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
LittlePea said...

I saw one of those once right after my grandma had passed away in the shape of a rose. I felt like it was there just for me....

dmmgmfm said...

Littlepea, that is amazing...I bet it was there just for you.

Unknown said...

Laurie, I really needed to see that picture today. Alex and I are very tired of winter and darkness!

Cuppa said...

Thanks for sharing that photo. I have never seen it before and it is truly beautiful.

Cathy said...

Well - I don't know how I missed it at Bonita's, but I'm sure as heck glad you stuttered it because that is unbelievably beautiful.

Jacob said...

Wow! What a rainbow. I didn't know about those. Since I fly a plane, I am guessing that I can hope to see the phenomenon from the air if I attain the 58 degree alignment to the sun that is required to make the whole thing happen. Thanks!

Jacob said...

Since that jet contrail is above the rainbow, I am going to guess that the cloud/ice crystal combination is in the mid 20 thousands in altitude. The jet would be in the upper 30s.

dmmgmfm said...

Gawpo, it would be so amazing to see in real life. I hope you get a chance to do that.