Incredible Rainbow Iridescent Clouds Photographed Over Hanoi

(TMU) – Truth be told, the iridescent colors of a rainbow in the sky makes people happy, and the people of Vietnam who have had the pleasure of experiencing Mother Nature’s beautiful creations over the past few weeks have been extremely lucky.

Earlier in June, a cloud shaped like Vietnam left many citizens in awe, while last week’s photos of a rainbow halo around the sun went viral. The cherry on top of all of this was a rainbow cloud brightening the horizon late afternoon last Saturday, and the Hanoi people were treated with the delightful sight.

Moderators at the popular Facebook forum Beatvn notified their followers of the rainbow cloud which appeared around 6pm with a photo posted on their wall. The photo shows a grey cloud topped with a white cloud, streaked with the iridescent colors of the rainbow, transforming the horizon behind the busy city street.

They weren’t the only ones who got to witness the fascinating event. Numerous others also noticed the delightful rainbow cloud and shared their photos on various online forums.

Bích Mai Thị Nguyễn, shared this picture, taken by a friend, where the shape-shifting cloud’s colors are intensified as cuts through the darkening sky.

Credit: Bích Mai Thị Nguyễn

National Geographic explains this phenomenon, officially known as an iridescent cloud, which is named after Iris, the Greek goddess of rainbows. For this event to occur, usually late afternoon, the sun’s rays behind a cloud will diffract off water droplets in the cloud, causing parts of the cloud to turn into a ‘rainbow’.  Hanoi’s heat and humidity in summer sets the perfect stage for this delightful show of the heavens.

Hanoian’s also took to the streets to experience the annular solar eclipse. Armed with cameras and protective solar sunglasses, they viewed and captured the event happening during the early afternoon.

Vietnam was in a good position to experience this event, although they were not in the path of the full ‘ring of fire’. Nevertheless, the partial eclipse could be seen in many cities in Vietnam and Hanoi was favored with a spectacular view, with 71% of the sun covered by the full new moon. Sadly, the sun’s light was still much too bright for most mobile cameras to capture the eclipse, leaving it up to those with proper equipment and filters to capture the event and share with the world.

The Vietnamese netizens were enthralled by the cluster of heavenly phenomena that occurred in June, such as the Vietnam-shaped cloud, the Solar Eclipse, and the iridescent cloud. Many believe that these are good omens which signal a bright future for the Vietnamese nation.

Perhaps Mother Nature wanted the country to know that she is impressed with their outstanding efforts to stem the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic within their borders.