© Frank Le Blancq

St. Ouen, Jersey

Latitude: 49° 13' 45'' N

Longitude: 2° 13' 33'' W

29 March 2016 1300 (Local Time)
Camera direction: towards S

Image P/S code: P.13.1.1

Image I.D.: 4136

C_L = 0, C_M = 3, C_H = 6

• Images & related info Other Images Images of 1987 edition
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  Cirrostratus nebulosus and 22° halo

  The photo shows a thin veil of Cirrostratus cloud invading from the west (right of photograph). The lack of form or detail identifies it as the species nebulosus. A small amount of Altocumulus is also visible. The main feature is a complete moderate intensity 22° solar halo, caused by solar rays passing through many randomly arranged ice crystals.

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  © Frank Le Blancq
  St. Ouen, Jersey
  Latitude: 49° 13' 45'' N
  Longitude: 2° 13' 33'' W
  29 March 2016 1300 (Local Time)
  
  
  Camera direction: towards S
  C_L = 0, C_M = 3, C_H = 6
  Image P/S code: P.13.1.1
  Image I.D.: 4136
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  At 12000 UTC, low pressure of 991 hPa was centred north-west of Ireland with a trough extending south, off the west coast of Ireland. High pressure of 1 020 hPa was centred over southern Portugal. A cold front was approaching the mouth of the English Channel, then trailing southwest towards the Azores, Portugal. Ahead of the front was a trough line.

  © Crown Copyright
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  The sounding from an upwind station in Brest, France (WMO 07110) at the time of the photograph (1200 UTC) shows a moist and unstable lower atmosphere extending to approximately 650 hPa. A further moist layer is evident with a base at approximately 440 hPa (6500 m), the likely height of the Cirrostratus cloud base. Wind speeds at that level were about 250° at 100 kt.

  © University of Wyoming
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  The NASA Aqua satellite visual image at 1240 UTC shows the mass of cloud associated with the cold front and trough line, preceded by thin high cloud over the Channel Islands.

  © Credit NASA
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  Sub-horizon halos

  The high vantage point of a flight from Munich, Germany to Paris, France allowed this view of parhelia together with subparhelia and a subsun.

  The arc surrounding the Sun with a radius of 22° is the small halo. The small halo is one of the most frequently observed halo phenomena. On the right and left sides of the small halo, at the same elevation as the Sun, are bright coloured spots known as parhelia, or mock suns. Extending horizontally away from each parhelion are parts of the parhelic circle. The parhelic circle is a white circle that stands parallel to the horizon and passes through the Sun.

  Vertically below the Sun is the bright reflection halo that is the subsun, or undersun. The subsun is below the horizon and so is only seen from high vantage points, such as from aircraft or mountains. To the right and left of the subsun and vertically below the parhelia are corresponding subparhelia. Extending away from these are very faint parts of the subparhelic circle.

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  © Mark McCaughrean
  Germany
  Latitude: 48° 18' 36'' N
  Longitude: 9° 29' 24'' E
  24 October 2012 1642 (Local Time)
  
  
  Camera direction: towards WSW
  Image P/S code: S.13.1.1 7
  Image I.D.: 4128
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  A complex halo display

  This magnificent halo display was formed by the refraction and reflection of sunlight through diamond dust at an altitude of 1 100 m in Neklid, Klinovec, Ore Mountains, Czech Republic.

  Such complex displays are usually observed only in polar regions, although they may occasionally occur in mountains when there are ice crystals in the air, as in this case. The dust-like specks in this photograph are in fact the diamond dust ice crystals sparkling in the sunlight.

  The halos visible in this picture are: a 22° halo; a parhelic circle and parhelia; a lower tangent arc; infralateral arcs; an upper tangent arc with a suncave Parry arc; a heliac arc; a supralateral arc that touches a circumzenithal arc; and four Tape arcs (also known as 46° Parry arcs). 

  Some of these halo types are quite common, such as the 22° halo and the parhelia. Others, however, are less frequently seen, and some, such as the heliac arc and Tape arcs, are rarely witnessed.  

  Links in the image description will highlight features on the image. Mouse over the features for more detail.

  © Claudia Hinz
  Neklid, Klinovec, Czech Republic
  Latitude: 50° 24' 12'' N
  Longitude: 12° 56' 19'' E
  30 January 2014 1056 (Local Time)
  
  
  Camera direction: towards SSE
  Image P/S code: P.13.1
  Image I.D.: 4204
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  Halo display

  This extreme wide-angle photograph from Antarctica shows a 22° halo with two parhelia, or sun dogs, at 2 and 3 on either side. Circling the horizon and lying horizontally through the parhelia and the Sun is the parhelic circle at 4 and 5. At the top and bottom of the 22° halo are an upper tangent arc and a lower tangent arc, which extend around the 22° halo as a faint luminous curve to meet each other and form a circumscribed halo.   

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  © Tatsuru Fujita
  1-1 Ichibachō, Chūō-ku, Chiba-shi, Chiba-ken 260-0855, Japan
  Latitude: 77° 19' 12'' S
  Longitude: 39° 42' 0'' E
  24 December 2004 1328 (Local Time)
  
  
  Camera direction: towards NE
  Image P/S code: S.13.1.1 6
  Image I.D.: 4796
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  Halo phenomena in Cirrostratus nebulosus

  Several halo phenomena have formed here in a featureless veil of Cirrostratus nebulosus. Surrounding the Sun is a 22° halo. Lying horizontally through the Sun is a parhelic circle at 3 and 4. On the parhelic circle (5, 6) and just outside of the 22° halo are two bright parhelia (commonly known as sun dogs or mock suns), seen at 7 and 8. At the top of the 22° halo is an upper tangent arc and a Parry arc.

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  © Usynina Luybov
  g. Uray, Khanty-Mansiyskiy avtonomnyy okrug, Russian Federation
  Latitude: 60° 7' 25'' N
  Longitude: 64° 46' 58'' E
  22 May 2015 0821 (Local Time)
  
  
  Camera direction: towards E
  C_L = 0, C_M = 0, C_H = 7
  Image P/S code: P.3.0
  Image I.D.: 4805
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  22° halo with parhelia

  The main features in this picture are the 22° halo and the parhelia flanking it on each side at 2 and 3. The parhelia (commonly known as sundogs or mock suns) are bright spots, often brightly coloured, that occur on the parhelic circle and on or just a little outside of the 22° halo.

  The parhelic circle at 4 and 5 is a white halo at the same angular elevation as the Sun that, if complete, runs as a circle around the horizon. Here, only the parts of the parhelic circle outside of the parhelia are visible. Inside the 22° halo, any parts of the circle that may have been seen are obscured in the photograph by flare from the camera lens.

  At the top of the 22° halo is a faint upper tangent arc. Also in the photograph, diamond dust ice crystals responsible for generating these halo phenomena can be seen as white specks sparkling in the sunlight against the blue, cloudless sky.

  Links in the image description will highlight features on the image. Mouse over the features for more detail.

  © Irene Ho
  Hexigten, Chifeng, Inner Mongolia, China
  Latitude: 43° 15' 54'' N
  Longitude: 117° 32' 45'' E
  06 January 2011 1421 (Local Time)
  
  
  C_L = 0, C_M = 0, C_H = 7
  Image P/S code: P.13.1.6.1
  Image I.D.: 4948
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  22° halo

  This extreme wide-angle photograph, taken in Antarctica, shows a 22° halo formed around the Moon by the interaction of moonlight with the ice crystals in Cirrus and Cirrostratus clouds.

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  © Tatsuru Fujita
  Syowa Station, Antarctica
  Latitude: 69° 0' 15'' S
  Longitude: 39° 34' 45'' E
  12 April 2012 0442 (Local Time)
  
  
  Camera direction: towards N
  C_L = 0, C_M = 0, C_H = 7
  Image P/S code: S.13.1.1 2
  Image I.D.: 4972
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  22° halo and Cirrostratus fibratus

  The 22° halo appears as a white or mostly white luminous ring of 22° radius with the light source at its centre. The cloud in this picture is mainly Cirrostratus fibratus.

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  © Kam Hoo Man
  Tuen Mun, Hong Kong, China
  Latitude: 22° 23' 27'' N
  Longitude: 113° 58' 21'' E
  11 July 2015 0724 (Local Time)
  
  
  C_L = 0, C_M = 0, C_H = 7
  Image P/S code: S.13.1.1 3
  Image I.D.: 5088
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  22° halo and upper tangent arc

  “Tangent arc” is the generic term for several types of luminous arcs that form tangentially to other halos. In this picture, a tangent arc touches a 22° halo at its highest point, and therefore is an upper tangent arc.

  Tangent arcs have a form that varies with the angular elevation of the light source (the Sun or Moon). When the light source is just above the horizon, the upper tangent arc takes the form of a narrow V-shape. As the Sun or Moon rises in the sky, the V-shape of the upper tangent arc opens to a shape resembling the outstretched wings of a large bird.

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  © Alfons Puertas
  Vallvidrera - el Tibidabo i les Planes, Barcelona, Spain
  Latitude: 41° 25' 6'' N
  Longitude: 2° 7' 27'' E
  25 October 2015 0820 (Local Time)
  
  
  Camera direction: towards E
  C_L = 0, C_M = 0, C_H = 7
  Image P/S code: P.13.1.4
  Image I.D.: 5442
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  Halo display

  This halo display was formed by the refraction and reflection of sunlight through diamond dust on Mt. Zugspitze, Bavarian Alps, Germany (altitude 2 963 m). Diamond dust is a precipitation that falls from a clear sky in very small ice crystals, often so tiny that they appear suspended in the air. These ice crystals are visible mainly when they sparkle in the sunlight.

  The halo types visible in the picture are: 22° halo; parhelic circle; parhelia, seen at 1 and 2; upper tangent arc; upper Sun pillar; lower Sun pillar; 46°halo; infralateral arc; and supralateral arc.

  Some of these halo types are quite common, such as the 22° halo and parhelia, while others are less frequently seen. Some appear as relatively bright spots or arcs, while others are faint and difficult to identify.

  Links in the image description will highlight features on the image. Mouse over the features for more detail.

  © Claudia Hinz
  Mt. Zugspitze, Bavarian Alps, Germany
  Latitude: 47° 25' 16'' N
  Longitude: 10° 59' 11'' E
  14 January 2013 1050 (Local Time)
  
  
  Camera direction: towards SSE
  C_L = 0, C_M = 0, C_H = 7
  Image P/S code: P.13.1.2
  Image I.D.: 5621
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  Cirrostratus fibratus with impressive halo phenomena

  The slow northward movement of a warm front produced a shield of high cloud over southern England, UK on the morning of 7 October 2010. The first Cirrus appeared before dawn, followed by variable and beautiful Cirrus and Cirrostratus during the morning – at one point a large shield of Cirrostratus with a sharp edge spread in quickly from the south-east. Later in the morning and into the afternoon, with more general Cirrus/ Cirrostratus, there was a fine and prolonged halo display, including two very bright 22° parhelia, segments of the parhelic circle, an upper tangent arc to the 22° halo (suncave with the Sun at 33° elevation at noon) with pronounced Parry arc and, for part of the afternoon, a very bright circumzenithal arc as well (not shown in the picture). Altocumulus spread in very rapidly from the south after 1500 UTC and the rest of the day and evening remained cloudy, with rain commencing at 1730 UTC.

  Links in the image description will highlight features on the image. Mouse over the features for more detail.

  © Stephen Burt
  Stratfield Mortimer, near Reading, Berkshire RG7, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
  Latitude: 51° 22' 12'' N
  Longitude: 1° 2' 24'' W
  07 October 2010 1211 (Local Time)
  
  
  Camera direction: towards S
  C_L = 0, C_M = 0, C_H = 7
  Image P/S code: S.3.2
  Image I.D.: 5684