🌈 Polar Stratospheric Clouds at Sunrise — A Rare Atmospheric Phenomenon At high altitudes above the Arctic regions, a thin layer of the stratosphere produced a display of vivid color as the rising sun illuminated polar stratospheric clouds—also known as nacreous clouds. These iridescent formations develop only under exceptionally cold conditions, around 15 miles above Earth’s surface. When sunlight strikes their tiny ice crystals at low angles, the light is diffracted into bright bands of pink,