Iridescent Flying Fish

Back Blip from Akaora....

I had a wonderful visit from my cousin and her husban. It was pity it was such a cold grey day. It didn't rain which was good. They left Christchurch in sunshine and only got the cloud has they reach Akaora.

After a walk around the garden we had a lovely lunch that my cousin had brought over with her. SO good to have some company.

I notice this interesting cloud effect as I was watching out for a sunset. And to me it looked just like a fish.



I found out that These colourful clouds are called iridescent clouds. When you see a cloud like this, you know there are especially tiny ice crystals or water droplets in the air. Larger ice crystals produce solar or lunar halos, but tiny ice crystals or water droplets cause light to be diffracted – spread out – creating this rainbow-like effect in the clouds.
The phenomenon is called cloud iridescence or irisation. The term comes from Iris, the Greek personification of the rainbow.