What is the white trail behind airplanes?

These clouds are contrails, short for condensation trails. Water vapor is one of the byproducts of jet fuel combustion and will turn into ice crystals in the cold air at the high elevations where jet airplanes fly. Those ice crystals create a cloud (the contrail), which does not pose any public health risk.

Why do some jets leave trails and some don t?

Jets leave white trails, or contrails, in their wakes for the same reason you can sometimes see your breath. The hot, humid exhaust from jet engines mixes with the atmosphere, which at high altitude is of much lower vapor pressure and temperature than the exhaust gas.

What do contrails look like?

Contrails may appear on clear or partly cloudy days because of jet engine exhaust that contains water vapor. The water vapor condenses at high altitudes where a layer of air is cold and contains moisture. The condensation is visible from the ground, appearing to look like pencil thin lines of ‘cloud.

What is the white cloud behind Jets?

Why do Jets leave a white trail in the sky?

Jets leave white trails, or contrails, in their wakes for the same reason you can sometimes see your breath. The hot, humid exhaust from jet engines mixes with the atmosphere, which at high altitude is of much lower vapor pressure and temperature than the exhaust gas.

What causes long White contrails to form in the sky?

If the temperature, winds and humidity in the upper atmosphere are right, long, white contrails form when the moisture in the exhaust condenses.

What are the lines in the sky when jets fly?

Next. The clouds that jets form on certain days are called condensation trails or contrails. Some days, the contrails will form thin lines that cross the entire sky. Other days they will be much shorter, and on some days there will be none at all. A contrail forms because one of the components of jet engine exhaust is water.

Why do those long clouds form behind jets flying high overhead?

Why do those long, white clouds form behind jets flying high overhead? The clouds that jets form on certain days are called condensation trails or contrails. Some days, the contrails will form thin lines that cross the entire sky. Other days they will be much shorter, and on some days there will be none at all.