Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Upside Down Rainbow




"Upside Down Rainbow"


If today's economic news is creating an emotion in you of feeling disheveled, one just has to look to the sky for metaphors. There is a saying, "As Above, So is Below."
Life as we know it appears to be turning upside down. Hang in there, and remember to smile as all is in Divine Order.

"It appeared in the sky for the briefest of moments. A dazzling arc of psychedelic color reminiscent of the Cheshire Cat's grin in Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland. But this is no fantasy or trick of the light--it is known as a circumzenithal arc. Seen shimmering in the sky over Cambridge in the afternoon sunshine, it is often mistaken for a rainbow hanging upside down.

Relatively rare in Britain, the arc only appears when sunlight shines at a specific angle through a thin veil of wispy clouds at a height of around 20,000 to 25,000 feet. At this altitude the cirrus clouds are made of ice crystals, the size of grains of salt. Renowned astronomer and writer Dr. Jacqueline Mitton was lucky enough to capture the optical phenomenon on camera near her home in Cambridge last Sunday. Mitton, who has a doctorate in astrophysics from Cambridge University, was awed: "I've never seen anything like it before--and I'm 60.""