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Credit & Copyright: Magnus Edback
Explanation:
Welcome to the December Solstice, the first day of winter in planet
Earth's northern hemisphere and summer in the south.
To celebrate, consider this extraordinary display of
beautiful solar ice halos!
More common than rainbows,
simple ice halos can be easy to spot, especially if you can
shade your eyes from direct sunlight.
Still it's extremely rare to see anything close to the
complex of halos
present in this astounding scene.
Captured at lunchtime
on a cold December 14 near Utendal, Sweden the
image includes the relatively ordinary 22 degree halo,
sundogs (parhelia) and sun pillars.
The extensive array of
rarer halos has been identified along
with previously unknown features.
All the patterns are generated as sunlight
(or moonlight) is reflected and refracted
in flat six-sided water ice crystals in Earth's atmosphere.
In this case, likely local contributors to the atmospheric
ice crystals are snow making machines operating at at nearby ski center.
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NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: halo
Publications with words: halo
See also: