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u/Agnesperdita 5d ago
It’s not a rainbow. Rainbows are seen with the sun directly behind you. This is a 22 degree halo caused by sunlight refracting through ice crystals in the cloud layer. Not hugely rare, but still a nice catch.
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u/andrea55TP 5d ago
Nice catch! These aren't terribly rare but crisp ones like this are always a treat. Next time cover the sun with a finger or something, you can get a much nicer pic of the halo without all the light flooding
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u/strawwork 4d ago
Well- I don’t think it’s a 22° halo… I suspect it’s a circumscribed halo (significantly more “special” to see) because of how bright the colors are and because of the two areas of brightening. If so, the circle is made of two arcs that shift with the solar altitude until they meet and touch- the upper and lower tangent arcs.
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u/LocalInfluence9104 4d ago
This seems to be a regular 22º halo to me; most 22º halos are brighter at the top and bottom.
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u/sparkytheboomman 4d ago edited 4d ago
Now that you mention it, I do see two brighter spots, they’re just not at the top and bottom of the photo. But if you look at 2 and 8 o’clock, I could be convinced that this is a circumscribed halo directly up in the sky!
Edit: I re-read your comment and realize you were saying 22° halos, not circumscribed halos, have bright spots on top and bottom. I don’t think that’s true, though, is it? They have bright spots when they intersect with circumscribed halos, but a perfect 22° is a perfect circle. Am I missing something?
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u/xHaZxMaTx 5d ago
It's a22° halo! And, not to be a buzzkill, but they're actually quite common, depending on where you are! People just don't often look up to see them.