Contrails and Distrails

 It may be strange, but I've always liked contrails. When I was in elementary school, a teacher asked if anybody knew what they were. I didn't often raise my hand, but I did for contrails. Did you know that the word is short for condensation trails? It makes sense. They're also called vapour trails-- artificial clouds made by airplanes. Next to rainbows , sunsets, and sunrises, they're on the top of my happy sky list.


I found the following image on Wikipedia.

This is called a "distrail." It's the opposite of a contrail, but also made by an airplane. The word stands for "dissipation trail." This happens when an airplane passes through thin clouds and breaks them up, turning visible water droplets back into water vapour. I don't think I've ever seen one of these in real life.