Halo, ἅλως

Too see phenomena on the sky you don’t have to go all day long waiting for the night to come. Even during sunlight you can be lucky to see something extraordinary! And today was my lucky day. The sun has been shining from a clear blue sky all day and when I looked out from my window at sundown I first thought I saw a rainbow. But how can there be a rainbow without rain? When rushing out for a photo I see a feeble arc around the Sun and I soon realise, it is a halo!

Halo is an optical phenomenon, also known as nimbus, icebow or Gloriole, that can be seen around the Sun or the moon. The name Halo is greek and means arc or circle and as the name describe, a halo is a colored or white arc. A halo is created by ice crystals in the upper part of the troposphere. Depending on the shape and orientation of the ice crystals, there will be different types of halos.

Photo: David Helgesson