Credit & Copyright: Michael Koch  
  
Explanation:
Why would a cloud appear to be different colors?    
  
A relatively rare phenomenon known as   
iridescent clouds can show unusual colors vividly or a whole   
spectrum of colors simultaneously.    
  
These clouds are formed of small   
water droplets of nearly uniform size.    
  
When the Sun is in the   
right position and mostly hidden by thick clouds,   
  
these thinner clouds significantly   
diffract sunlight in a nearly coherent manner,   
with different colors being deflected by different amounts.    
  
Therefore, different colors will come to the observer   
from slightly different directions.   
  
Many clouds start with uniform regions that could show   
iridescence but quickly become too thick, too mixed,   
or too far from the Sun to exhibit striking colors.  
  
Pictured above, an iridescent cloud was photographed near Cannes,    
France last month.   
  
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