SUN HALO MAKES CITY’S MIDDAY SUPER EXCITING
The ring of light 22 degrees from the sun (or moon) occurs frequently
Hyderabadis were in for a surprise when a sun halo was formed in the peak noon hours, on Wednesday, an unusual solar spectacle, called a ‘22-degree circular halo’.
Several people in the city stopped work and rushed outside to click pictures of the rare sight. However, astronomy experts say it is a natural occurrence depending on the clarity in the sky. They said halo forms due to the refraction of light
Hyderabadis were in for a surprise when a sun halo was formed in the peak noon hours, on Wednesday, an unusual solar spectacle, called a ‘22-degree circular halo’.
Several people in the city stopped work and rushed outside to click pictures of the rare sight. However, astronomy experts say it is a natural occurrence depending on the clarity in the sky.
Ali Mohammed, a nutritionist in Hyderabad said, “It was 30 minutes past noon when I was engrossed in my usual work and my phone buzzed. My friend had shared an image. It looked like a circular rainbow. I rushed to check it out and was thrilled to see a real halo around the glazing sun. I kept watching the rare sight.”
Explaining the phenomenon, Dr. Nagaratna, head scientist at IMD Hyderabad said, “The halos can appear in any season and are reported several times a year in parts of the world, depending on the position of the sun, presence of dark clouds and the refraction of light through ice crystals present in the upper atmosphere.”
Halos are formed when light from the sun or moon is refracted by ice crystals associated with thin upperlevel cirrus clouds. Typically, these cirrus clouds are found at heights greater than 20,000 feet (6,000 meters). “These clouds are composed of ice crystals that originate from the freezing of supercooled water droplets, and generally occur in fair weather,” explained Dr Shanti Priya, head of department of astronomy, Osmania University.
It is a ring of light 22 degrees from the sun (or moon) and is the most common type of halo observed and is formed by hexagonal ice crystals with diameters less than 20.5 micrometres, she added.
An astronomy enthusiast in the city, Praveen
Suryavanshi, said this was in fact one of many sightings he has seen in the past. “Moon halos are more frequent occurrences, but a sun halo isn't also a rare sighting. A perfect setting in the sky causes this sun halo to occur, just like a rainbow. Only difference is the changes in the upper atmosphere are not visible to the eye, unlike in the case of a rainbow,” he said.
He added that he was happy to see this time around, how this phenomenon caught the curiosity of the general public. “Several people clicked photos and even wondered what it was when I shared my clicks on social media,” said Praveen.