Let's get this out of the way first – 'fire rainbows' aren't actually rainbows.
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Let’s start by dropping a couple of bombshells: Fire rainbows aren’t actually rainbows, and they also have nothing to do with fire. So let’s call them by their more accurate and exact name: circumhorizontal arcs. Circumhorizontal arcs occur when ice crystals in cirrostratus or cirrus clouds function like tiny floating prisms,into the color spectrum. The difference between this refraction and that of a rainbow is that in a rainbow, light refracts through water molecules rather than ice crystals.
Extremely exact and specific weather conditions are necessary in order for circumhorizontal arcs to be visible. First, there must be cirrus or cirrostratus clouds. Next, the sun must be very high in the sky . Finally, the hexagonal ice crystals within the cloud have to be . In other words, this phenomenon is pretty rare, but if you know when to look , you’ll be more likely to make a rare sighting of a circumhorizontal arc.
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