This gorgeous video of a rainbow contrail was taken of an aircraft flying over Birmingham in the United Kindom.
It was taken by flugsug.
Contrail is short for condensation trails and appear as a line of cloud produced by the jet exhaust or can be formed by changes in air pressure from aircraft at cruise altitude.
Despite popular misconceptions, contrails or vapor trails are just that - composed primarily of water, in the form of ice crystals.
WATCH: Emirates A380 in a snowy blast
You can also get vapor trails off wingtips triggered by changes in air pressure and in some cases of the entire wing surface.
Some vapor trails can stay in the atmosphere all day depending upon the temperature and humidity at the altitude the contrails form.
According to Contrail Science, "they are formed when the water in jet exhaust mixes with wet cold air and condenses and freezes into ice crystals. Contrails are actually a type of cirrus cloud. When the air is wet and cold enough the trails can stay around for a long time, and sometimes spread out.”
This difference between trails that fade away, and trails that spread, is often used as evidence of the “chemtrail” theory, which states that the longer lasting trails (or some of them) are being deliberately manipulated for some reason, which of course is nonsense.
However mostly if they are visible they only last from a few minutes to an hour or so.
Have questions or want to share your thoughts?
