Ethereal 'halo' and light arcs around the sun captured in photos of ultra-rare phenomena [View all]

By Harry Baker published about 9 hours ago

At least three separate optical phenomena are visible in the new images. Each of which is created by light refracting through millions of perfectly aligned ice crystals in the upper atmosphere.



This image of the sun surrounded by shining halos and arcs of light was captured May 28 at Belfast's Botanic Gardens. (Image credit: Alan Fitzsimmons)

A scientist recently snapped a series of shining arcs and halos of light surrounding the sun in the sky above the U.K., including an exceptionally rare ring of light that circled the entire sky.

Alan Fitzsimmons, an astronomer at Queen's University Belfast in Northern Ireland, captured the unusual light show above Belfast's Botanic Gardens on May 28. The display lasted around 30 minutes, Fitzsimmons told Live Science.

Some of the bizarre glowing rays were also spotted across other parts of Northern Ireland, as well as in northern England and Scotland, according to Spaceweather.com.

The arcs and halos are caused by millions of tiny, perfectly positioned ice crystals in the upper Earth atmosphere, which often accompany thin cirrus clouds, Fitzsimmons said. "If the winds are very uniform up there, the hexagonal-shaped crystals align," he added. "This allows the sunlight refracting through them to combine, just as light refracts through a prism, producing arcs and circles of sunlight."

More:
https://www.space.com/ethereal-halo-sun-light-arcs-photos