NASA Aqua Image: A Rare 'Glory' Rainbow captured

Credit: Jeff Schmaltz, LANCE MODIS Rapid Response

A view from space of a rainbow-like optical phenomenon called a Glory, consisting of brilliant lines of colour, taken by NASA's Aqua satellite.

A Glory is an optical phenomenon that resembles an iconic saint's halo about the shadow of the observer's head. 

The effect is believed to happen due to classical wave tunneling, when light nearby the droplet tunnels through air inside the droplet and, in the case of Glory, is emitted backwards due to resonance effects.

Credit: Michael Studinger. 

In this image, taken over Antarctica's Brunt Ice Shelf, a Glory surrounds the shadow of the DC-8 plane that is flying NASA's IceBridge mission to survey the state of Antarctic ice.