Alishan Sunrise and Solar Corona
May 08, 2023
Photographer: Meiying Lee
Summary Author: Meiying Lee
Alishan is a very famous landscape in Taiwan for observing the rising Sun. In the early morning of March 19, 2023, I made sure I was in position to see the sunrise over Yushan, Taiwan's tallest mountain. It did so amidst a fast-moving mist. Unexpectedly, accompany the Sun was a very bright red-yellow corona.
Because of the long pathlength of sunlight through the atmosphere of the low-lying Sun, tiny water droplets in the mist scattered out almost all the blue-green light so that only the longer wavelength colors (yellows, oranges, reds) remained. I have never seen such a bright yellow-red solar corona! Note also the faint yellow-red sun dog on the right side of the Sun, resulting from refraction of sunlight through hexagonal ice crystals.
Alishan, Chiayi, Taiwan Coordinates: 23.4355, 120.7810
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