Explanation: Sometimes it looks like the Sun is being viewed through a large lens. In the above case, however, there are actually millions of lenses: ice crystals. As water freezes in the upper atmosphere, small, flat, six-sided, ice crystals might be formed. As these crystals flutter to the ground, much time is spent with their faces flat, parallel to the ground. An observer may pass through the same plane as many of the falling ice crystals near sunrise or sunset. During this alignment, each crystal can act like a miniature lens, refracting sunlight into our view. The above image was taken near sunset last month Winter Solstice near Nashville, Tennessee, USA. Dramatically visible behind neighborhood houses and trees and above the cloud deck is the 22 degree halo created by sunlight reflecting off of atmospheric ice crystals.

<<  Mart  >> Pn Vt Sr Cht Pt Sb Vs   1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31       1995   1996   1997 1998   1999   2000 2001   2002   2003 2004   2005   2006 2007   2008   2009 2010   2011   2012 2013   2014   2015 2016   2017   2018 2019   2020   2021 2022   2023   2024

Yanvar' Fevral' Mart Aprel' Mai Iyun' Iyul' Avgust Sentyabr' Oktyabr' Noyabr' Dekabr'

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.

Publikacii s klyuchevymi slovami: Sun - halo - ice crystals - Solnce - galo - kristally Publikacii so slovami: Sun - halo - ice crystals - Solnce - galo - kristally
Sm. takzhe: Treugol'nyi protuberanec nad Solncem Eruptivnyi protuberanec na Solnce Gaiya: vot poyavlyaetsya Solnce Oreol i tumannaya duga Solnechnyi tanec Protuberancy i volokna na aktivnom Solnce Vozvrashenie znamenitoi aktivnoi oblasti i vspyshka klassa X na Solnce Vse publikacii na tu zhe temu >>