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Glory

(Section 3.2.3.4)

Definition: Glory: One or more sequences of coloured rings, seen by an observer around their own shadow on a cloud consisting mainly of numerous small water droplets, on fog or, very rarely, on dew.

P.13.4

The glory always occurs directly opposite the Sun, centred on the antisolar point. Therefore, it is below the horizon, except at sunrise and sunset. It is observed when the Sun is behind you, and looking down from an elevated location, such as a mountain, hillside or an aircraft, onto mist, fog or cloud. The coloured rings are due to the diffraction of light, and their arrangement is the same as in a corona.

The glory is nearly always accompanied by your own shadow. Airborne observers may see a glory around the shadow of the aircraft in which they are flying. When clouds or fog are near the observer and the observer's shadow appears very large and distorted by perspective, it is called a “Brocken spectre” , whether or not a coloured glory is seen.

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