shine like a flaming rainbow

Okay, here's another picture of the Kyle sky from the other day... see if you see what I see. I asked my oldest brother Andy to tell me what kind of rainbow this is. No, he's not a scientist - he's a graphic designer - yet I feel he should know these things. He did not disappoint.

After concurring (that is a word I'm sure scientists use) we hypothesized that this is a circumhorizontal arc, also known as a fire rainbow, a halo or an optical phenomenon similar in appearance to a horizontal rainbow, but in contrast caused by the refraction of light through the ice crystals in cirrus clouds.

It occurs only when the sun is high in the sky, at least 58° above the horizon, and can only occur in the presences of cirrus clouds. It can thus not be observed at locations north of 55°N, except occasionally from mountains.

The phenomenon is quite rare because the ice crystals must be aligned horizontally to reflect the high sun. The arc is formed as light rays enter the horizontally-oriented flat hexagonal crystals through a vertical side face and exit through the horizontal bottom face. It is the 90° inclination that produces the well-separated rainbow-like colours and, if the crystal alignment is just right, make the entire cirrus cloud shine like a flaming rainbow. (from Wikipedia, reputable source of all things science)

Let's hear it from Sky
With Earth joining in,
And a huge round of applause from Sea.

Let Wilderness turn cartwheels,
Animals, come dance,
Put every tree of the forest in the choir -

Psalm 96, vs. 11,12 (the Message)