a rainbow that circles the sun

hello jsut thought i would share soemthing i have never seen before i was hanging out with some friends and looked up at the sun and belive it or not there was a rainbow that circled around the sun it was very cool any of you seen anything like it?

reply to post by tamenie


I believe this is called a sun dog

reply to post by tamenie


I saw the same thing today! It was more prominent with sunglasses on

I'll believe it when I see it. I'm not saying you didn't see what you say you saw but a verifiable image or video would be beneficial.

If it did happen it was probably a sundog. Probably in a thin cloud that appears to circle the sun.

Also, can I get a better explanation of what you mean. Around the sun like the rings on saturn, or around the sun like drawing a circle around the sun on a plane perpendicular to your line of sight. First is nearly impossible, the second is possible, I have seen one like this but your thread title makes me think the first for some reason.

What you saw was a 22° halo, a very common but very lovely ice crystal display. If the colors were vivid it would be more accurately called a circumscribed halo.

This will explain the 'mechanics' of how these halos are formed.

22° halo explanation

Sun dogs or parhelia, are two bright spots that can be on the halo, but sometimes the halo is very dim, are always to either side of the sun and can have varying appearances depending on the height of the sun in the sky and cloud conditions.

I have a gallery of sun dogs I've have photographed over the years, showing their different moods:

Sun Dogs–Parhelia

They form very high in the sky in cirrus clouds, although the clouds can be so diffuse it is difficult to see them. Jet trails can also create clouds that make beautiful halos because the clouds are young, the crystals are well formed and they are aligned well to create the spectral, prism effect.

Perfectly normal, perfectly natural and perfectly awesome!

Originally posted by DarkSarcasm
I'll believe it when I see it. I'm not saying you didn't see what you say you saw but a verifiable image or video would be beneficial.

If it did happen it was probably a sundog. Probably in a thin cloud that appears to circle the sun.

Also, can I get a better explanation of what you mean. Around the sun like the rings on saturn, or around the sun like drawing a circle around the sun on a plane perpendicular to your line of sight. First is nearly impossible, the second is possible, I have seen one like this but your thread title makes me think the first for some reason.

edit on 26-6-2011 by DarkSarcasm because: (no reason given)

i have a photo but it hurt to look at the sun while taking the pic so its not very good i can try and post it i will anyway it was like a rainbow you see in the sky just wrapped about eh i guess 4 feet from the sun form ym veiw anyway i will let you judge when i post a pic

For some reason my account won't let me post images any longer, but I created a set of some of my photos showing examples of the common 22° halo and some of the less frequently seen halos that surround the sun.

Halos Around the Sun

Originally posted by czygyny
For some reason my account won't let me post images any longer, but I created a set of some of my photos showing examples of the common 22° halo and some of the less frequently seen halos that surround the sun.

Halos Around the Sun

thats what i saw