Fire Rainbow

What we see represented in this photo is what some would call a rare opportunity to capture. The phenomenon is referred to as "Circumhorizontal arc" or some call it a "fire rainbow" or a "sundog". 

They are essentially ice-halos formed by the refraction of sunlight or, occasionally, moonlight, in plate-shaped ice crystals suspended in the atmosphere. They are most commonly spotted in cirrus or cirrostratus clouds, and they can be easily distinguished from 22-degree halos depending on the distance they appear below the sun or moon — twice the distance of the 22s. (As their name suggests, 22-degree halos form a circle with a radius of about 22 degrees around). 

This specific picture was taken on June 17th, 2023 in Utah County overlooking the Payson temple. This occurrence was my first experience seeing one of these in person and it couldn't have been any better! The brightness and clearness of it lasted for about 10 minutes and was seen from people hundreds of miles away so it was definitely enjoyed by a lot of people. It's definitely a capture that I won't forget and probably will never encounter one like so ever again! I hope everyone else is just as amazed by it as I was.