Halo Display Over Coquitlam, British Columbia
May 01, 2010
Photographer: Ash Parameswaran
Summary Author: Ash Parameswaran; Jim Foster
The photo above shows a pronounced halo display that occurred over Coquitlam, British Columbia, Canada on the morning of March 5, 2010. At left; though unfortunately wires partially mar the view, a 22 degree halo, upper tangent arc and faint Sun pillar can be observed. At right, a portion of a beautiful but seldom seen 46 degree halo is visible. Halo displays result from refraction and reflection of sunlight through both oriented and randomly aligned ice crystals in cirrus type clouds. The reddish color on the inside of the huge, outer arc signifies that this is a halo phenomenon and is not in any way related to rainbows, which show violet and blue on the inside of the primary bow.