Atmospheric optical phenomena include: *

Afterglow An afterglow in meteorology consists of several atmospheric optical phenomena, with a general definition as a broad arch of whitish or pinkish sunlight in the twilight sky, consisting of the bright segment and the purple light. Purple light mai ...

Airglow Airglow is a faint emission of light by a planetary atmosphere. In the case of Earth's atmosphere, this optical phenomenon causes the night sky never to be completely dark, even after the effects of starlight and diffuse sky radiation, diffuse ...

* Alexander's band, the dark region between the two bows of a double rainbow. * Alpenglow * Anthelion * Anticrepuscular rays *

Aurora An aurora ( aurorae or auroras), also commonly known as the northern lights (aurora borealis) or southern lights (aurora australis), is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly observed in high-latitude regions (around the Arc ...

(northern and southern lights, aurora borealis and aurora australis) * Belt of Venus * Brocken Spectre * Circumhorizontal arc * Circumzenithal arc *

Cloud iridescence Cloud iridescence or irisation is a colorful optical phenomenon that occurs in a cloud and appears in the general proximity of the Sun or Moon. The colors resemble those seen in soap bubbles and oil on a water surface. It is a type of phot ...

Crepuscular rays Crepuscular rays, sometimes colloquially referred to as god rays, are sunbeams that originate when the Sun appears to be just above or below a layer of clouds, during the twilight period. Crepuscular rays are noticeable when the contrast betwee ...

Earth's shadow Earth's shadow (or Earth shadow) is the shadow that Earth itself casts through its atmosphere and into outer space, toward the antisolar point. During the twilight period (both early dusk and late dawn), the shadow's visible fringe – someti ...

* Earthquake lights * Glories * Green flash * Halos, of Sun or Moon, including

sun dog A sun dog (or sundog) or mock sun, also called a parhelion (plural parhelia) in atmospheric science, is an atmospheric optical phenomenon that consists of a bright spot to one or both sides of the Sun. Two sun dogs often flank the Sun within ...

s * Haze * Heiligenschein or halo effect, partly caused by the opposition effect * Ice blink *

Light pillar A light pillar or ice pillar is an atmospheric optics, atmospheric optical phenomenon in which a vertical light beam, beam of light appears to extend above and/or below a light source. The effect is created by the Reflection (physics), reflection ...

Lightning Lightning is a natural phenomenon consisting of electrostatic discharges occurring through the atmosphere between two electrically charged regions. One or both regions are within the atmosphere, with the second region sometimes occurring on ...

Mirage A mirage is a naturally-occurring optical phenomenon in which light rays bend via refraction to produce a displaced image of distant objects or the sky. The word comes to English via the French ''(se) mirer'', from the Latin ''mirari'', mean ...

s (including Fata Morgana) * Monochrome Rainbow * Moon dog *

Moonbow A moonbow (also known as a moon rainbow or lunar rainbow) is a rainbow produced by moonlight rather than direct sunlight. Other than the difference in the light source, its formation is the same as for a solar rainbow: It is caused by the refracti ...

* Nacreous cloud/Polar stratospheric cloud *

Rainbow A rainbow is an optical phenomenon caused by refraction, internal reflection and dispersion of light in water droplets resulting in a continuous spectrum of light appearing in the sky. The rainbow takes the form of a multicoloured circular ...

Sprite (lightning) Sprites or red sprites are large-scale electric discharges that occur in the mesosphere, high above thunderstorm clouds, or cumulonimbus, giving rise to a varied range of visual shapes flickering in the night sky. They are usually triggered ...

* Subsun *

Sun dog A sun dog (or sundog) or mock sun, also called a parhelion (plural parhelia) in atmospheric science, is an atmospheric optical phenomenon that consists of a bright spot to one or both sides of the Sun. Two sun dogs often flank the Sun within ...

* Tangent arc *

Tyndall effect The Tyndall effect is light scattering by particles in a colloid such as a very fine suspension (a sol). Also known as Tyndall scattering, it is similar to Rayleigh scattering, in that the intensity of the scattered light is inversely propor ...

* Upper-atmospheric lightning, including red sprites, Blue jets, and

ELVES An elf (: elves) is a type of humanoid supernatural being in Germanic folklore. Elves appear especially in North Germanic mythology, being mentioned in the Icelandic ''Poetic Edda'' and the ''Prose Edda''. In medieval Germanic-speakin ...

* Water sky

References

{{reflist * atmospheric optical phenomena

Optical phenomena Optical phenomena are any observable events that result from the interaction of light and matter. All optics, optical phenomena coincide with Quantum mechanics, quantum phenomena. Common optical phenomena are often due to the interaction of ligh ...

See also

References