Astronomy Picture of the Day . A Colorful Solar Corona over the Himalayas . ... 10.01.2016 . ... Credit Copyright: Jeff Dai Explanation: What are those colorful rings around the Sun? ... Since light of different colors has different wavelengths, each color diffracts differently. ... This type of solar corona is a visual effect due to water in Earth's atmosphere and is altogether different from the solar corona that exists continually around the Sun -- and stands out during a total solar eclipse . ...