Citizens of Telangana were in for a treat as they witnessed the rare 22 degrees halo around the Sun. The rare occurrence was sighted on the Bengaluru skies as well a few days ago. The incident left a huge smile on the people’s faces and netizens shared pictures of a bright sun with a circular rainbow around it on Twitter.

Contents hide
1. Details
2. Netizens share images of 22-degrees halo on Telangana sky
3. What is a Sun Halo?
4. How is a Sun Halo formed?
5. Other Optical Phenomenon (Except rainbows)
5.1. Sundog
5.2. Glory

Details

Just a few days after people pointed their fingers at the sun in excitement as a circular rainbow was visible around the Sun over the Bengaluru skies, citizens of Telangana also witnessed the similar phenomenon. The phenomenon, also known as the 22-degrees Halo, is an optical illusion which is caused when the hexagonal ice crystals refract the sun light.

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Netizens share images of 22-degrees halo on Telangana sky

What is a Sun Halo?

Sun Halo or 22-degree halo, is an optical phenomenon that is caused when sunlight is refracted by the ice crystals that are in the atmosphere. When all the conditions required for the phenomenon is met, a circular rainbow with a radius of 22 degrees around the Sun is formed, thus the name.

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How is a Sun Halo formed?

Sun Halo are formed thanks to cirrus clouds. These clouds are suspended in thin air and are detached from other cloud types. They are found at quite a height in the atmosphere: 20,000 feet. The cirrus clouds consist within them millions of tiny ice crystals that refract, disperse and reflect the light from the sun which results into a circular ring of rainbow or a halo, form around the sun.

During this process, the sun light is refracted twice: once when it passes through the tiny dispersed ice crystals that are found in the cloud, and second, when the light exists from those ice crystals. When the light exits from the ice crystal, it bends and changes chape, depending upon the actual diameter of the ice crystal. If all the conditions are met, these 2 refractions bend the sunlight by 22 degrees and a 22-degree halo is formed.

It should be noted that the 22-degree halo is also considered an indicator and predictor that the region will face some rainfall in the next 24 hours given the fact that the cirrostratus clouds are the primary indicator of an approaching weather front.

Earlier last year, 22-degree sun halo was witnessed in the skies of Tamil Nadu’s Rameswaram in 2020.

Other Optical Phenomenon (Except rainbows)

Sundog

Sun-Halo

Sundog

Sundog or ‘mock sun’ is a natural optical phenomenon when the sun is hanging low in the sky during either a sunrise or a sunset. Another required condition for a sundog is that a lot of ice crystals must be present in the sky. If all the conditions are met, sky gazers can see ‘sundogs’ that are located 22-degrees to the right and left of the Sun.

Glory

Glory

Glory

Often looked as a weirdly shaped rainbow, a Glory is a set of concentric colorful rings placed against the clouds. While halos and sundogs are in the direction of the Sun, glories occur exactly opposite to the sun’s direction. The optical phenomena is a result of deflection of the sunlight that hits tiny water drops that are scattered in the air. The intensity of a glory depends on the droplets’ uniformity, meaning if the droplets are uniform, the glory will be of a better and brighter quality.