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22° Halo at the 45th Parallel, Rob Foster

22° Halo at the 45th Parallel

22° Halo at the 45th Parallel, Rob Foster

22° Halo at the 45th Parallel

Description

When you are not catching fish, the sky and the water garner more attention. Such was the case a couple of weeks ago, when Sun Dogs first caught our attention, then an hour or so later, this nicely formed 22° halo.  Formed by hexagonal ice crystals in the troposphere, randomly refracted light produces this characteristic halo, with a faint rainbow effect with red wavelengths seen first before the diffraction of the other colors (ROYGBIV) going outward.  Note also that the inner core of the halo has a characteristic darker appearance than the surrounding background, a result of light refraction preferrentially outwards, not inwards.  Interestingly, Sun Dogs (parahelia) are formed in a similar manner roughly in a horizontal line with the sun itself, though parahelia are associated with horizontally-oriented crystals rather than the random orientation that results in the circumferential halo. Taken with an iPhone 14 shooting RAW, this image also reminds us the best camera is the camera you have with you!

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22° Halo at the 45th Parallel, Rob Foster

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