The Circumzenital bow - a special halo!
The Circumzenitale Arch - a special Halo just before full moon!
“Look! A rainbow in the sky! A very fierce one, and it's upside down! But no, it's not a rainbow, partly because it's upside down and so bright! “
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On several sites I found information about 'the rainbow high in the air' It is a special (but not a rare) halo. It appears due to the refraction of sunlight in ice crystals. With a rainbow you get the coloring by the refraction and reflection of sunlight IN the raindrops drops! The colors of the Circumzential Arch are much more intense than the colors of a rainbow. The ice crystals often arise in high veil clouds (cirrus-cloudiness)
The Circumzentitale Arch is visible when the sun is low, below 32 degrees with the Earth. The arc then stands above the great circle of the sun. The convex side turns red and the hollow side, so the top is violet.
The conceivable center of the complete circle is the Zenith (the point right above your head!) There are no pictures of a complete circle and there is doubt that it has ever been observed or observable. However, a name has been given to the entire circle, the arc of Kern, or the Kern Arc. (To H. Kern, a Dutchman who reported the full circle)
