by owlice » Fri Jul 22, 2011 3:45 pm
I think it's a cloud bow, too, or possibly a rainbow if it's sprinkling off in the distance. First, it is generally bow-shaped, so rules out a circumhorizontal arc, as it's not parallel to the horizon. It appears away from the sun -- looking closely at the picture, it appears the sun is to the right of the photographer (given where the shadows are on the fence posts), so I think too far from the sun to be iridescence, which usually appears closer to the sun, not in the antisolar direction. There is very little shadow showing, too, so that indicates that though the sun is off to the right, it's also behind the photographer. That the phenomenon is in the antisolar direction is also a point in favor of a bow.
I think it's a cloud bow, too, or possibly a rainbow if it's sprinkling off in the distance. First, it is generally bow-shaped, so rules out a circumhorizontal arc, as it's not parallel to the horizon. It appears away from the sun -- looking closely at the picture, it appears the sun is to the right of the photographer (given where the shadows are on the fence posts), so I think too far from the sun to be iridescence, which usually appears closer to the sun, not in the antisolar direction. There is very little shadow showing, too, so that indicates that though the sun is off to the right, it's also behind the photographer. That the phenomenon is in the antisolar direction is also a point in favor of a bow.