Sun 2nd of Aug 2026 UTC
Astronomy.co.uk Moon Phase Widget
Age: 19 days old
Phase: Waning Gibbous
Illumination: 83%
Distance: 381,698 km
from the NASA archive - 2nd August 2026

What's happening to this cloud?

Ice crystals in a distant cirrus cloud are acting like little floating prisms. Known informally as a fire rainbow for its flame-like appearance, a circumhorizon arc appears parallel to the horizon. For a circumhorizontal arc to be visible, the Sun must be at least 58 degrees high in a sky where cirrus clouds present below -- in this case cirrus fibratus. The numerous, flat, hexagonal ice-crystals that compose the cirrus cloud must be aligned horizontally to properly refract sunlight in a collectively similar manner. Therefore, circumhorizontal arcs are somewhat unusual to see. The featured fire rainbow was photographed in 2021 near North Fork Mountain in West Virginia, USA. Sky Surprise: What picture did APOD feature on your birthday? (after 1995)

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17th January 2022 at 16:33
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4th January 2022 at 10:01
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Astronomy.co.uk
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Astronomy.co.uk
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Astronomy.co.uk
30th December 2021 at 13:57
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