Halo and Rainbow Panorama

May 20, 2013

Halo_RainbowAA1_100413_01

Photographer: Michael Grossmann; Michael's Web site
Summary Author: Michael Grossmann

It's rare that you can see a rainbow and halo simultaneously. However, on this early spring day in Kaempfelbach, Germany, such a feat was possible. During the late afternoon, as a brief rain shower developed in the eastern sky, a rainbow could be detected at the antisolar point -- near the eastern horizon (left). At the same time, sunlight refracting through randomly oriented ice crystals, composing a layer of cirrus clouds in the vicinity of the Sun (in the western sky, at right), triggered a bright 22 degree halo. Note that the camera is facing south. Photo taken on April 10, 2013.