A beautiful ‘rainbow’ like feature, known as a ‘glory’, has been captured by the European Space Agency in the atmosphere of Venus.
It’s the first time that a full glory has been seen outside of the terrestrial environment!
What is a Glory?
Both rainbows and glories are formed through sunlight being refracted through the droplets that make up clouds. However, for a glory to be formed, the cloud particles must be spherical – and therefore most likely liquid – and all must be of a comparable size.
Here is how this optical phenomenon looks like on Earth… Eerie, no?
Glories are considerably smaller than rainbows, but more ‘concentrated’ and are comprised of a series of concentric rings with their own bright ‘core’.
As if this helicopter was being targeted around Mauna Loa. I love it!
Glories can only be viewed when their observer is located between the sun and the particles refracting the light. They have been known to appear to people who are flying in planes, or to mountaineers gazing downwards through fog.
It’s a kind of mirage, no?
