Bands of color appeared above the treetops

 Bands of color appeared above the treetops 

Sunlight passed through high, thin clouds at just the right angle, producing ribbons of color that seem brushed across the sky. These glowing patches aren’t rainbows .. they’re cloud iridescence, where tiny water droplets or ice crystals scatter light into soft, shifting spectra.

Because the droplets are nearly the same size, they bend light in similar ways, creating those oil-slick, pastel patterns along the cloud edges. The effect is fleeting, changing shape and color as the cloud moves and the Sun’s angle shifts.

 Rocky Mountain foothills, Colorado, USA