Magnificent sun halo in pictures
Did you see a halo around the sun?
If you did, you spotted an atmospheric optical phenomenon that is known as a 22-degree halo.
This beauty is caused by tiny ice crystals reflecting light.
Twitter user, @lehlohonolo_0, posted photos of a magnificent sun halo as captured in Reitz in the Free State.
@SAWeatherService just took a pic an hour ago in eastern freestate pic.twitter.com/xwMKH71AvP
— lehlohonolo (@lehlohonolo_0) October 23, 2017
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@PaulMonare Kindly receive the pic I took 3hours ago here in reitz fs. Explain wt does it means. Never sin it b4 pic.twitter.com/O4KtEbsvqp
— lehlohonolo (@lehlohonolo_0) October 23, 2017
According to the site EarthSky, the halo remains the same diameter no matter what position the sun is found in the sky.
What makes a halo around the sun or moon?
According to the EarthSky website, there's an old weather saying: ring around the moon means rain soon.
It says there's truth to this saying, because high cirrus clouds often come before a storm.
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"Notice in these photos that the sky looks fairly clear. After all, you can see the sun or moon. And yet halos are a sign of high thin cirrus clouds drifting 20,000 feet or more above our heads."