Who else hunts Atmospheric optics?

[Karla Dorman]

Atmospheric phenomena much easier for me to "catch" than Storm. =] Here are a few of mine from this year:

1) circumhorizontal arc (March, 2009) *This was the BIGGIE*
2) crepuscular rays (August, 2009)
3) sundog (September, 2009)
4) rainbow (October, 2009)

[Jeremy Ludin]

Originally Posted by Jim Saueressig

Jim, now THAT is nice!

I got into atmospheric optics back before I ever picked up a dSLR. I think it's pretty fascinating how airborn materials can reflect light in all sorts of ways. Some of mine...

Solar halo above Pike's Peak:


Sun pillar:


Light pillars:


Lunar halo:


I have seen MANY better displays than the ones above also, but didn't have the camera at hand. Last year I missed THREE spectacular light pillar displays over the city and left the camera at home every time.

[Allan Jeffers]

I bagged me a corona around the sun a little while ago!



Not quite the iridescent clouds I was hoping to shoot today, but I will take it

[Patrick Boomer]

Always watching for something..
Lately I have been really watching the afternoon sun whenever there is a trough/wave setup over the foothills west of here. Many small clouds in the wave edge have perfect droplet size for amazing iridescent colors, and the edge of a standing wave as the sun crosses is a crazy colorful place that I had never really looked at until I got to 400mm. A few degrees either side of sol is where vivid rainbows hide out, but it can be a damaging place to troll with a telescope!

Nov.9, 2009


Sept. 21, 2009


Jan.17, 2009 - Rocky mountain inversion/mirage



Without the inversion

[Andrew Herron]

It's faint but it's there:

http://twitpic.com/owhi7

[Dennis Sherrod]

While in Nova Scotia and New England back in September, I saw some of the brightest rainbows I have ever seen. Several doubles and one almost, trying to triple. The last one is unique to me as it was in between fogged in mountains and I could actually look down at it some.

[Richard Dickson]

Here are a couple photos of the temperature inversion that I shot a few weeks ago.

[Steven Gliebe]

Wow, awesome stuff guys, especially the full arc rainbows. I love rainbows.

[Chris McBee]

My three terribly lame additions to the rainbow pics. I don't have any other pics of optical phenomena. But then, I am a lousy photographer. Anyways, here goes:

Mulvane, KS, tornado and rainbow, June 12, 2004:


Double rainbow with funnel in the middle, same day:


June 9, 2009, Kay County, OK, rainbow and hail shaft:

[Steven Gliebe]

Awesome shots, Chris. Not lame at all! Wow, a rainbow and tornado in the same shot.

Now here is a lame rainbow if ever there was one. It's the moment that was cool.