What name is given to rainbows on the planet Venus? How do these differ from Earth's rainbows?

Venus has an optical phenomenon called a ‘glory’ which – like a rainbow – forms when sunlight falls on cloud droplets. However, glories are caused by the interference of light waves within droplets, whereas rainbows are caused by the reflection, refraction and dispersion of light.

To see a glory, you have stand with your back to the Sun, so that the reflected rays return along your line of sight. A good viewing site, apart from an aeroplane window, is a mountain peak that rises above clouds or fog (see picture). The bull’s-eye pattern will surround the shadow cast by your head — giving you the appearance of a saint in Christian iconography. In fact, admirers of the phenomenon speculate that all those halos you see around saints’ and mystics’ heads are really depictions of atmospheric glories.