A cloud as splendid as it is exceptional has formed above the Chinese city of Haikou.
No, it’s not an unidentified flying object that appeared in the sky of Haikou in China a few days ago. This prodigious multicolored mass is indeed a natural formation, which seems to come from a flirtation pushed between a cloud and a rainbow. Its name: iridescent pileus. A very unromantic name for such a magical spectacle, filmed and photographed by many inhabitants of this large city in southern China.
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Météo France has detailed on its site the complex mechanisms behind this exceptional cloud: “The phenomenon is caused by the diffraction of light rays in the ice particles in suspension on the surface of the clouds.” In other words, the sunlight is scattered by the crystals which function like so many small prisms. This is a process very similar to that at work in the formation of rainbows except that it is the raindrops that diffract the light.
Iridescent piles are already very rare in normal times, but this one is also distinguished by its “extremely well-defined and very aesthetic” structure, as several weather specialists have noted on social networks.
空から何か降りてきそうな彩雲
あまり の 美し さ に 言葉 言葉 失い ます ね！ 調べ たら 頭巾雲 頭巾雲 頭巾雲 頭巾雲 頭巾雲 頭巾雲 頭巾雲 頭巾雲 頭巾雲 頭巾雲 頭巾雲 頭巾雲 頭巾雲 頭巾雲 頭巾雲 頭巾雲 頭巾雲 頭巾雲 頭巾雲 頭巾雲 頭巾雲 頭巾雲 頭巾雲 頭巾雲 頭巾雲 頭巾雲 頭巾雲 頭巾雲 頭巾雲 頭巾雲 頭巾雲 頭巾雲 頭巾雲 頭巾雲 頭巾雲 頭巾雲 頭巾雲 頭巾雲 頭巾雲 (pileus or Scarf Cloud)もの。この辺りはこうした彩雲が生まれやすいみたい#中国 via @Earthlings10mpic.twitter.com/F3AEjvqD0o— 辺境写真家栗田哲男 Tetsuo Kurita Photography (@tetsuo_tk) August 27, 2022