The combination of the shape and speed of the airplane produces zones in which the pressure and temperature are reduced below the dew point, causing water vapour to condense out of the air. This ...

When a plane passes through cold humid air, the contrails form as the vapour from the engines condenses on unburned fuel fragments in the exhaust stream. While the causes of contrails have been ...

Long contrails form in humid conditions while short ... plane's engine is much hotter than the atmosphere. The water vapor from the hot plane engine turns to ice mid-air which we see as white ...