r/atoptics 1d ago

Circular rainbow below a plane

You can see it fading in and out as we pass the clouds. It also created a really odd light spot appearance, as though it was brighter in the centre? You could see the shadow of the plane in the centre of the bright spot, earlier in the flight, so something to do with having the sunlight directly behind me?

144 Upvotes

9 comments sorted by

8

u/OkLocation167 1d ago

The first half of the video I thought I was watching the reflections on the hood of black car.

5

u/JD_SLICK 16h ago

All rainbows are circular, it’s just the pesky ground tends to get in the way

3

u/rivalpiper 15h ago

You're right, but in this case it's a glory.

2

u/rivalpiper 15h ago

Also some nice convergence to the antisolar point of the shadows cast by the clouds below.

1

u/FunkyHoratio 14h ago

Yeah it took me a while to wrap my head around how that forms! It looked light a bright spot being protected into the distance, but had to be a reflection off the water vapour in the air. Definitely very cool to see.

1

u/Celestialhoneyy 6h ago

such a nice view

1

u/YoMama2222222 2h ago

All rainbows are circular! We. Can only see half usually