What Is A Halo Ring Around The Sun

Sunlight through the ice crystals causes the light to split or be refracted.

What is a halo ring around the sun.

If that is a sun halo then what is a sun dog. Also known as a 22 degree halo or a sun halo the ring is caused by sunlight passing through ice crystals in cirrus clouds within the earth s atmosphere the university of illinois weather world project 2010 explains. Old son had a dream of a halo around the sun and he also drew a thunderstorm above the houses after drawing the halo. They are made of tiny ice crystals.

We ll soon post our latest video halo around the sun which i captured just few days ago last june 5th. A halo around the sun is a fairly common phenomenon. It is typically caused when there are very high very thin clouds. Halo from greek ἅλως halōs is the name for a family of optical phenomena produced by light typically from the sun or moon interacting with ice crystals suspended in the atmosphere halos can have many forms ranging from colored or white rings to arcs and spots in the sky.

As light passes through these hexagon shaped ice crystals it is bent at a 22 angle creating a circular halo around the sun. Weather folklore says a ring around the sun or moon means it will rain soon. These clouds being so high in the sky are made from ice crystals. This means that the halo can be seen when your eye makes a 22 degree angle with the sun or moon.

Many of these appear near the sun or moon but others occur elsewhere or even in the opposite part of the sky. When at just the right angle it causes us to see the halo. However there is another type of optical phenomenon that s commonly classified as a sun halo and that s the light pillar or sun pillar. A sun halo is caused by the refraction reflection and dispersion of light through ice particles suspended within thin wispy high altitude cirrus or cirrostratus clouds.

See ww2010 s website for diagrams that illustrate how it works. And a week before june 5th believe it or not my beloved 16 yr. The old weather saying ring around the moon. The term halo usually implies a ring and circular halos around the sun and moon are common.

A 22 halo is an optical phenomenon that belongs to the family of ice crystal halos its form is a ring with an apparent radius of approximately 22 around the sun or moon when visible around the moon it is called a moon ring or winter halo it forms as direct sunlight or moonlight is refracted in millions of hexagonal ice crystals suspended in the atmosphere.