APOD: Circular Sun Halo (2021 Jun 10)

[APOD Robot]

Circular Sun Halo

Explanation: Want to see a ring around the Sun? It's easy to do in daytime skies around the world. Created by randomly oriented ice crystals in thin high cirrus clouds, circular 22 degree halos are visible much more often than rainbows. This one was captured by smart phone photography on May 29 near Rome, Italy. Carefully blocking the Sun, for example with a finger tip, is usually all that it takes to reveal the common bright halo ring. The halo's characteristic angular radius is about equal to the span of your hand, thumb to little finger, at the end of your outstretched arm. Want to see a ring of fire eclipse? That's harder. The spectacular annular phase of today's (June 10) solar eclipse, known as a ring of fire, is briefly visible only if you're standing along the Moon's narrow shadow track that passes over parts of northern Canada, Greenland, the Arctic, and eastern Russia. The solar eclipse is partial though, when seen from broader regions, including northern Asia, Europe, and parts of the US.

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[Chris Peterson]

Circular Sun Halo

Explanation: Want to see a ring around the Sun? It's easy to do in daytime skies around the world. Created by randomly oriented ice crystals in thin high cirrus clouds, circular 22 degree halos are visible much more often than rainbows. This one was captured by smart phone photography on May 29 near Rome, Italy. Carefully blocking the Sun, for example with a finger tip, is usually all that it takes to reveal the common bright halo ring. The halo's characteristic angular radius is about equal to the span of your hand, thumb to little finger, at the end of your outstretched arm. Want to see a ring of fire eclipse? That's harder. The spectacular annular phase of today's (June 10) solar eclipse, known as a ring of fire, is briefly visible only if you're standing along the Moon's narrow shadow track that passes over parts of northern Canada, Greenland, the Arctic, and eastern Russia. The solar eclipse is partial though, when seen from broader regions, including northern Asia, Europe, and parts of the US.

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Where I live high altitude moisture is fairly uncommon, so we don't see a lot of halos. And the air is usually very clean and dry... great for astroimaging. I often test the conditions during the day in the way this image shows... by holding my finger up to block the Sun (which is about the size of a fingernail). In a transparent sky, I see blue right to the edge of my finger. The more dust, or smoke, or moisture that is present, the farther out from my finger the bright white of scattered sunlight extends. A useful trick for gauging transparency.

[sym666]

I live in Rome and I saw it. I was at the beach so without city obstacles I could enjoy completely. It lasted for several minutes, half an hour or more. And there was another segment of arc at a few degrees from the ring. Really a nice sight!

[heehaw]

Do not look directly at the Sun, you can easily damage your vision permanenlly.

[orin stepanek]

Interesting picture! I never tried it, but I may. We have had a lot of bright sunny days lately!

[E Fish]

We're getting a bit too much sun out here. Perhaps he could push the button again and dim the light a bit?

[johnnydeep]

I live in Rome and I saw it. I was at the beach so without city obstacles I could enjoy completely. It lasted for several minutes, half an hour or more. And there was another segment of arc at a few degrees from the ring. Really a nice sight!

What did you see - halo, ring of file, or "just" the partial eclipse? And I'm not sure what you mean by there being "another segment of arc" visible. Does that mean the ring wasn't complete?

[sym666]

I live in Rome and I saw it. I was at the beach so without city obstacles I could enjoy completely. It lasted for several minutes, half an hour or more. And there was another segment of arc at a few degrees from the ring. Really a nice sight!

What did you see - halo, ring of file, or "just" the partial eclipse? And I'm not sure what you mean by there being "another segment of arc" visible. Does that mean the ring wasn't complete?

What eclipse are you talking about?
As I said, there was a complete ring around the sun, and another small arc, at some degrees from the ring, probably because of a cloud formation (I presume made of ice crystals) where this arc laid upon. It was very short but "wider", in the sense that the colour bands were larger, while the ring was made by narrower bands.

[johnnydeep]

I live in Rome and I saw it. I was at the beach so without city obstacles I could enjoy completely. It lasted for several minutes, half an hour or more. And there was another segment of arc at a few degrees from the ring. Really a nice sight!

What did you see - halo, ring of file, or "just" the partial eclipse? And I'm not sure what you mean by there being "another segment of arc" visible. Does that mean the ring wasn't complete?

What eclipse are you talking about?
As I said, there was a complete ring around the sun, and another small arc, at some degrees from the ring, probably because of a cloud formation (I presume made of ice crystals) where this arc laid upon. It was very short but "wider", in the sense that the colour bands were larger, while the ring was made by narrower bands.

The eclipse that just occurred this morning. I guess it was on my mind. So, you're saying that on May 29 in Rome you saw this same ring. Got it. My fault for making unwarranted assumptions, and for missing that this APOD pic was from Rome!