Rainbow in the sky whilst sunny!?

Question

there was a smaller one on the side... http://img385.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc01917si1.jpg

what is this?

Answer 1

looks like a rainbow or a funnel cloud.

Answer 2

The picture you refer to shows a halo rather than a rainbow. Halos are caused by refraction of light through ice crystals in the thin cloud you can see surrounding the sun. A rainbow would be seen in the opposite direction to the sun and is caused by refraction of light through water droplets rather than ice.

Answer 3

Rainbows occur when the sun's light reflects through the water droplets at a certain angle where the light gets reflected through the droplets and this is what causes us to see different colors.  Think of it as a prism.  While it was sunny looking at the cirrus clouds shows that there was some decent moisture in the upper levels of the atmosphere and the sun's light was reflecting through the water droplets which caused the rainbow you saw.

Answer 4

Rainbows do not only appear when it is dark and stormy.  They often appear when it is sunny due to water reflection and the sun reflecting back up or something like that.