Astrophotos: Halo Around the Sun in South Africa Today

By Nancy Atkinson - November 1, 2010 at 3:08 PM UTC | Solar Astronomy
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Residents around Johannesburg, South Africa were treated with a rare astronomical (or actually atmospheric) sight -- a halo around the Sun. These halos are striking to see, but unlike an eclipse, they can't be predicted. Conditions in the atmosphere have to be just right, with moisture or ice crystals creating a "rainbow" effect around the Sun. Sometimes the halos surround the Sun completely, other times, they appear as arcs around the solar sphere. Basically, sunlight is reflecting off moisture in the atmosphere. These images were sent in by Alan Buff from Centurion, South Africa. See more below.

[caption id="attachment_77175" align="aligncenter" width="580" caption="Another image of a halo that appeared around the Sun on Nov. 1, 2010 in Centurion South Africa; this one has a building blocking out the Sun itself. Credit: Alan Buff."]

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In folklore, these halos seen around the Sun or the Moon means precipitation is on the way, which makes sense, since moisture in the atmosphere usually makes it down to the ground. High clouds of ice crystals are called cirrus clouds, and these often form in at the leading edge of warm fronts that bring rain.

Newspaper and internet articles report that Johannesburg was buzzing about the weird halos; however, the explanation was simple and did not include aliens or end-of-the-world scenarios.

[caption id="attachment_77176" align="aligncenter" width="580" caption="A halo appeared around the Sun on Nov. 1, 2010 in Centurion South Africa. Credit: Alan Buff."]

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Thanks again to Alan Buff for sharing his images with Universe Today.

Sources:

eHow

, NewsTime,

NASA

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson is a space journalist and author with a passion for telling the stories of people involved in space exploration and astronomy. She is currently retired from daily writing, but worked at Universe Today for 20 years as a writer and editor. She also contributed articles to The Planetary Society, Ad Astra (National Space Society), New Scientist and many other online outlets.

Her 2019 book, "Eight Years to the Moon: The History of the Apollo Missions,” shares the untold stories of engineers and scientists who worked behind the scenes to make the Apollo program so successful, despite the daunting odds against it. Her first book “Incredible Stories From Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos” (2016) tells the stories of 37 scientists and engineers that work on several current NASA robotic missions to explore the solar system and beyond.

Nancy is also a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador, and through this program, she has the opportunity to share her passion of space and astronomy with children and adults through presentations and programs. Nancy's personal website is nancyatkinson.com