Spectacular Halo Around the Sun Seen in Africa

By Nancy Atkinson - November 6, 2013 at 6:07 PM UTC | Solar Astronomy
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Fresh off seeing a solar eclipse on Sunday, people across the southern parts of Africa witnessed another solar spectacle today, a sun halo. "It was so beautiful, everyone was taking pictures and sharing them on Facebook," said Daniël Engelbrecht from Klerksdorp, South Africa, sending in his picture to Universe Today via email.

These halos are quite the sight 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 Sun creating what is known as sundogs. Basically, sunlight is reflecting off moisture in the atmosphere.

Ice crystals in Earth's atmosphere can also cause rings around the Moon, and moondogs(as well as sundogs) and even Venus pillars. News reports indicate sun halos were seen just a few days ago in Africa as well, on Nov. 1, 2013.

A few other people sent in images from their phones, too of today's sun halo:

[caption id="attachment_106199" align="aligncenter" width="580"]

Image of a Sun halo seen over Botswana, Southern Africa at 11:08 am local time on Nov, 6, 2013. Taken with an iPhone. Credit: Belleminah K Chitonho.[/caption]

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Image of a Sun halo taken at 12:10 on Nov. 6, 2013, in northwest South Africa, in Mmabotho with a blackberry phone. Credit: Vanessa Lucher. [/caption]

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