Known as a 'glory,' a rainbow-like feature has been recorded for the first time on another world by the European Space Agency's Venus Express orbiter, in the atmosphere of the planet closest to Earth.

Rainbows and glories appear when sunlight shines on cloud droplets, or, particles of water, if you're on the earth.

But, while rainbows often arch across wide area of the sky, glories tend to be much smaller and comprise a series of colored concentric rings centered on a bright core.

As well, glories can only be seen when an observer is positioned directly between the sun and the cloud particles reflecting the solar light.

On Earth, glories can be seen from airplanes, surrounding the shadow of the aircraft on clouds below.

To be seen, a glory requires two things: cloud particles that are spherical, therefore likely liquid droplets, and of similar size.

The atmosphere of Venus is believed filled with droplets of sulphuric acid.

Venus Express mission scientists recorded images of the clouds with the sun directly behind the spacecraft in anticipation spotting a glory, which would in turn help them determine characteristics of the cloud droplets. According to a new release, the effort was a success.

The glory images the researchers captured were visible at the Venus cloud tops, on July 24, 2011, about 43 miles above the planet's surface. The phenomenon was about 750 miles wide as seen from the spacecraft, which was flying approximately 1,720 miles above.

From the captured images, scientists could estimate the general size of the cloud particles are estimated to be 1.2 micrometres across, only about a fiftieth the width of a typical human hair.

The scientific team noted variations of brightness in the rings of the observed glory, an effect not expected from clouds made of only sulphuric acid mixed with water. That suggested the atmosphere surrounding Venus is more diverse in composition than previously thought.