A photograph of an iridescent pileus cloud aka a Rainbow Cloud was posted to the NASA site on September 6, 2022, as the “Astronomy Picture of the Day.”
Irisations are named after the mythological Greek goddess Iris. She was the goddess of rainbows, who also served Zeus as a messenger.
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The featured image was taken in Pu’er, Yunnan Province, China. The rare image captured a very unusual phenomenon. Cloud iridescence or irisation appears as a colorful cloud in the general proximity of the Sun or Moon.
Cloud iridescence or irisation is an optical phenomenon. The colors resemble those seen in soap bubbles and oil on a water surface. They sometimes appear as parallel bands like a rainbow.
A pileus iridescent cloud is created from water droplets or ice that combine together to diffract different colors.
The colors usually appear as pastels. They can also be more vivid or muted.
When appearing near the Sun, the effect can be drowned out by the Sun’s glare. You may need to wear dark glasses to observe the sky event.
