#circumzenithal
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scalzi.com
Sundogs today with a rare but cool circumzenithal arc (that's the inverted rainbow above the sun). I've upped the saturation and contrast to make them visible in the picture. Very cool in real life.
Sundogs are the rainbow arcs to the left and right of the sun. The sun is low in the sky and there are a lot of ice clouds, which are refracting light through them and causing the sundogs (and the circumzenithal arc).
October 2, 2025 at 10:49 PM
lynmac.bsky.social
Circumzenithal arc.
Always look up (and down, and around ...).

#BlueSkyMonday #photography #clouds #circumzenithalarc #AlwaysLookUp
Circumzenithal arc, surrounded by blue sky and cirrus clouds.
June 16, 2025 at 5:09 AM
neillareau.bsky.social
Circumzenithal arc.
April 25, 2025 at 1:16 AM
legpleg.bsky.social
Hierophanie ou Arc circumzénithal ?
Arc circumzénithal autrement dit arc en ciel dans le ciel lui même
May 19, 2025 at 8:52 AM
ericlagadec.bsky.social
Ces cristaux peuvent aussi former un arc circumzénithal, c'est hallucinant, non?
January 8, 2025 at 1:57 PM
rawhitfield.bsky.social
a brother’s smile

I parked my brother’s car, which his widow had given to me the day before. I was stuck between emptiness and acceptance. An oil derrick caught my eye. I looked up and saw a circumzenithal arc. I recalled my brother’s smile. Acceptance was a step closer.

#art #photography #nature
Circumzenithal Arcs are common but seldom seen owing to their appearance overhead. They are sometimes called "smile in the sky". The colors are more vivid than those of a rainbow. If you haven't seen one, I hope you get to someday.
February 20, 2025 at 6:51 PM
csath.bsky.social
Nature's colorful smile. A circumzenithal arc. #StormHour #PhotoHour
Circumzenithal arc
August 6, 2025 at 9:58 AM
peterlewis55.bsky.social
A spectacular altocumulus cloud front and a circumzenithal arc like an upside down rainbow in central London. @stormhour.bsky.social @photohour.bsky.social #stormhour #POTW
January 20, 2025 at 1:30 PM
aletheakontis.com
Caught the faintest hint of a Circumzenithal Arc - one day I’d love to capture an entire upside-down rainbow! 🌈

#VisualsByAlethea #nature #clouds #sun #sunset #clouds #florida #spring #sky
Sunset with tree and Circumzenithal arc
March 15, 2025 at 11:09 PM
shannbil.bsky.social
Another incredible cold day out there! But the sky Optics are absolutely beautiful!
-26⁰C with a windchill of -38⁰C
#Manitoba #ShareYourWeather #mbwx #sundogs #canada 22⁰ with a circumzenithal arc!
January 19, 2025 at 6:17 PM
maryoz.bsky.social
More #atmosphericoptics
#bluesky #rainbow #weather
Dazzling sundog about 20⁰ to the right of the sun. Brilliant colours in the circumzenithal arc. Circumzenithal arc way above the sun (which is hidden behind trees) and dazzling sundog to the right.
July 10, 2025 at 7:01 PM
maryepworth.bsky.social
Magical atmospheric optics up there today!
Three arcs! Possibly circumzenithal, upper tangent, and supralateral but I don't really know for sure.
September 16, 2025 at 9:50 PM
direbecca.bsky.social
A Smile In The Sky (aka circumzenithal arc) earlier this month in Wisconsin. ✌️🏳️‍🌈💜
#NaturePhotos #Clouds
An upside-down rainbow over a green field and green trees.
June 30, 2026 at 5:19 PM
thelostspark.bsky.social
A Circumzenithal Arc
(Bravais Arc)

#Weather
bardcode.bsky.social Svenja @bardcode.bsky.social · Jan 13
Go home, rainbow. You're drunk.
An upside down rainbow, high in the blue sky with white clouds. In the bottom: Silhouette of houses and trees against the setting sun.
January 13, 2025 at 5:12 PM
danielmachacek.bsky.social
Small details of today's cirrus clouds.
Images have been enhanced to better show different colors.
Most colorful areas are part of circumzenithal arc - halo effect caused by refraction of sunlight through ice crystals and some colors are probably also part of irisation caused by diffraction.
Color enhanced detail of cirrus' cloud filaments showing pastel colors of circumzenithal arc and cloud iridiscence (irisation). Color enhanced detail of cirrus' cloud filaments showing pastel colors of circumzenithal arc and cloud iridiscence (irisation).
May 11, 2025 at 11:59 PM
philplait.bsky.social
Looks like there's also either a sun halo or a circumzenithal arc there too
June 4, 2024 at 6:42 PM
vixcomplex.bsky.social
Ice Rainbow
3-2026

This circumzenithal arc lasted less than 2 minutes. Formed by sunlight refracting through horizontal plate ice crystals in cirrus clouds, it's rarer to catch than a #rainbow — and far more saturated

#atmospheric #clouds #nature #BlueSkyMonday #Vulture #opticalillusion #Sunset 📱
Silhouettes of bare winter tree branches fill the lower half of the frame against a soft blue twilight sky. Near the top center, a vivid circumzenithal arc — an upside-down rainbow smile with saturated orange, yellow, green, and blue — glows amid wispy cirrus clouds radiating outward like a sunburst. Three turkey vultures perch in the bare branches, one at the very top of the tallest branch directly beneath the arc, two slightly lower. The sun is setting behind the trees, casting a warm glow at the bottom of the frame
April 6, 2026 at 5:22 PM
stormhour.com
A spectacular altocumulus cloud front and a circumzenithal arc like an upside down rainbow in central London by @peterlewis55.bsky.social

Photo of The Week Competition 24th January 2025 ✨ www.stormhour.com/photo-of-the...

#PhotoHour
#StormHour
January 28, 2025 at 10:00 PM
lynmac.bsky.social
Doesn't look like iridescence, more like a flattened circumzenithal arc, in cirrus clouds.
From my balcony a few weeks ago as today is cloudy and grey.

#BlueSkyMonday #clouds #photography #sky
What looks like a flattened circumzenithal arc in cirrus clouds - the colours of a rainbow in the cloud. Some tree branches in the lower left of the frame.
March 10, 2025 at 4:51 AM
chrisbecke.bsky.social
The 22° halo isn’t very prominent, but that’s a neat circumzenithal arc.
November 5, 2025 at 7:22 PM
superjdf.bsky.social
Circumzenithal arc or CZA just now! I haven’t seen one this well defined in a while. It’s the upside down rainbow on top of the full solar halo also known as a nimbus. #wxsky #solarhalo #sundogs #hdr #indiana #sun #rainbow #ice #cza #photography
February 10, 2025 at 9:23 PM
loumusac.bsky.social
The Sun shining behind some #CirrusClouds and creating a #circumzenithalarc in the sky. #atmosphere #SkyOptics over #Montreal
The sun in a sky clouded with cirrus clouds and a circumzenithal arc above it.
September 16, 2025 at 10:06 PM
rhapsodyangel.bsky.social
Cirrus clouds, sundogs and a circumzenithal arc this afternoon.
circumzenithal arc with rainbow colours in the sky. A bright sundog in the afternoon sky. A sundog in the sky. White cirrus clouds.
September 29, 2025 at 3:39 PM
loumusac.bsky.social
A #circunzenithalarc in the sky during spring a while back. #Photography #atmosphere #skyscapes
A circumzenithal arc stretches across a cloud filled sky. Seven power lines are stretching vertically on the right side of the sky.
February 4, 2026 at 12:24 AM
kerriedoodles.bsky.social
*Atmospheric Optics*

Today we move on to the letter ‘C’ beginning with a Circumzenithal Arc (CZA). This phenomenon is caused by sunlight refracting through ice crystals in cirrus or cirrostratus clouds. It looks like an upside-down rainbow & is sometimes called a ‘smile in the sky’.
A bright circumzenithal arc in a cloud dappled sky. CZAs often show up when there are sundogs in the sky, but because they are higher up they are often overlooked. CZAs are located about 46° away from the Sun. They are one of the brightest members of the halo family.
February 11, 2025 at 12:51 PM