A Remarkable Form of Cloud

Abstract

WHILE preparing to observe the moon on Sunday, the 22nd inst., at 10h. 20m. p.m., my attention was attracted to a peculiar patch of grayish white light a few degrees from the moon, which upon closer examination I found extended light across the heavens, from the north-north-west to the south-south-east point of the horizon, passing through the zenith. It had a breadth of about 2°, and was sharply defined on both sides, more especially the northern, excepting near the zenith, where it was broken up into three or four detached cloudlike masses. All other parts of the sky were perfectly free from clouds, so that this one appeared like a gigantic arch spanning the heavens; so much so that a person to whom I pointed it out compared it to a rainbow, which it very much resembled in form. At 10h. 45m. it was reduced about one-half in width and had shifted 20° from the zenith towards the north-east, though it still extended from the south-south-east to north-north-west. By 10h. 55m. it had broken up into four irregular streaks of clouds of various breadths and parallel to each other, the only portion of the original arch being a narrow streak extending from the south-east to the meridian, where it faded away. This was the “beginning of the end,” for the remnant of the original arch and the other clouds in a short time disappeared below the eastern horizon, leaving the sky beautifully clear.