Solar Arcs and Halos
Credit & Copyright:
Eva Seidenfaden
Have you ever seen a bright halo around the Sun?
Unusual halos and arcs
were so bright one recent afternoon in
Trier,
Germany that even
casual people on the street noticed them.
The fantastic sky display is
pictured above and included a
22 degree halo arc, a complete
parhelic circle, a
circumhorizon arc
and even an infralateral arc.
A computer simulation has been run that
mimics the above rare display.
A cloud partially blocked the usually more intense direct glare of the Sun.
Sunlight refracting through falling and fluttering
hexagonal ice crystals creates such displays.
Such atmospheric ice crystals also cause
sundogs and
Moon halos.