Auckland bound plane leaves spectacular rainbow contrail

'One of the most spectacular rainbow contrails I have yet seen' Photo / ePixelAerospace, supplied

If you spend your days watching vapour trails you are in danger of being labelled as a little odd.

However, in some cases, you might be rewarded with something spectacular.

Such was the case for Brisbane-based photographer and aviation enthusiast ePixel Aerospace.

Capturing the image of Qatar Airway's Boeing 777 service from Doha to Auckland the conditions were just so that the vapour trails – or contrails – caught the late winter light in a spectacular way.

Travelling at a height of over 9,000 m at a speed of 793 kph the conditions were just right for what the photographer called "most spectacular rainbow contrails I have yet seen."

Photographer Michael Marston described the scene as a "dazzling display of colour after the plane had crossed overhead and was closer to the Sun.

"The seeing conditions were just about perfect on the day, being in Winter with slightly cooler conditions and little air disturbance looking directly upwards to 9.3 km."

More beautiful aerial photos taken by ePixel Aerospace and their incredibly long lenses can be seen on their facebook page.

Contrails forming behind an A340 aircraft at 9600 m flying out of Beijing. Photo / Jeff Well via Institut für Physik der Atmosphäre

These rainbow contrails are difficult to see with the naked eye, and require perfect lighting conditions.

They have nothing to do with plane exhaust fumes, but instead an unexpected property of aerodynamics.

Formed by the wings of planes at high altitude, the vapour trails appear when air pressure falls having been displaced by the plane and causing moisture to condensate and freeze into a trail of fine droplets and ice crystals.

This trail can act as a prism refracting light into spectacular rainbow colours, providing a light show for those below.