Circular Sun Halo
Image Credit &
Copyright:
Vincenzo Mirabella
Want to see a ring around the Sun?
It's easy to do
in daytime skies around the world.
Created by randomly oriented ice crystals in thin high cirrus clouds,
circular 22 degree halos are visible much more often than rainbows.
This one was
captured by smart phone
photography
on May 29 near Rome, Italy.
Carefully
blocking the Sun,
for example with a finger tip,
is usually all that it takes to reveal
the common bright halo ring.
The halo's characteristic angular radius is about equal
to the span of your hand, thumb to little finger,
at the end of your outstretched arm.
Want to see a
ring of fire eclipse?
That's harder.
The spectacular annular phase of
today's (June 10) solar eclipse,
known as a
ring of fire,
is briefly visible only if you're standing along
the Moon's narrow shadow track that passes over parts of
northern Canada, Greenland, the Arctic, and eastern Russia.
The solar eclipse is partial though, when seen
from broader regions,
including northern Asia, Europe, and parts of the US.