What are Sun and Moon halos?
- Published
If you had your eyes to the sky this week, you may have seen or even photographed halos or circles of light around the Sun.
Beautiful composition of a Sun halo around a tree in Moorhouse, Cumbria. Photo by Helen.
Wrenwhistle witnessed this captivating late afternoon Sun halo over the river Tay in Dundee.
Sun halo over Beardsen, East Dunbartonshire. Photo by Roman in the Gloamin'.
This happens when we have a thin layer of cirrus cloud moving across the sky. Cirrus is very high cloud made up of ice crystals.
Viv74 described this halo as "a circular rainbow around the Sun".
Sometimes the cirrus is so thin we are not aware of any cloud in the sky. However as it passes in front of the sun, refraction of the light by the ice crystals causes the halo to form.
Thank you Jimbo56 for sharing your picture of a Moon halo
We can also sometimes see the same effect when it's a clear night with a full Moon and the thin layer of cirrus moves across the moonlit sky.
Andy3784 captured this stunning image of a full Moon halo.