Known as a 22 degree halo or a sun halo, the ring is caused by sunlight passing through ice crystals in cirrus clouds within the Earth's atmosphere. Sometimes a higher/larger sun halo is also seen, which is called the supralateral arc.
Most halos appear as bright white rings but in some instances, the dispersion of light as it passes through ice crystals found in upper-level cirrus clouds can cause a halo to have colour. Light undergoes two refractions as it passes through an ice crystal and the amount of bending that occurs depends upon the ice crystal’s diameter.
http://ww2010.atmos.uiuc.edu/(Gh)/guides/mtr/opt/ice/halo/22.rxml
Above: The halo slowly faded into the icy afternoon sky.
These halos are considered uncommon in some parts. They are related to other types of ice crystal phenomena, such as sundogs and the circumhorizontal arc.
The circumhorizontal arc was previously known as the lower circumzenithal arc. The one above was seen over Hesketh Bank.
Above: a sundog forming in icy cirrus clouds over Ainsdale.
https://www.otsnews.co.uk/sundog-geese-ice-skating-frozen-marshside/
Both sun and moon halos have been portrayed in art since ancient times and frequently seen as warnings of storms ahead.
Pat Regan ©
http://pat-regan.blogspot.com/
More.
https://www.otsnews.co.uk/circumzenithal-arc-witnessed-over-lancashire-this-afternoon/
https://www.otsnews.co.uk/sun-dogs-witnessed-over-hightown/
https://www.otsnews.co.uk/solar-halo-spotted-southport-pier/
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