Astronomy Picture of the Day  
    
      Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our  
        fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation  
                      written by a professional astronomer.  
    
                                  2026 August 2  
     Blue sky has white clouds across the top and dark tree tops across the  
       bottom. Across the middle is a very colorful row of clouds that are  
     wavy and are orange at the top and green at the bottom. Please see the  
                   explanation for more detailed information.  
    
                        A Fire Rainbow over West Virginia  
                    Image Credit & Copyright: Christa Harbig  
    
     Explanation: 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)  
                     Tomorrow's picture: photobombed nebula  
       __________________________________________________________________  
    
         Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)  
              NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.  
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                               & Michigan Tech. U.  
    
  --- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7  
   * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)