High clouds help produce the halo you see here around the sun just before midday
Friday near Griffith, Indiana
Jill Nix of the Marathon Pipe Company in Griffith, Indiana tells us she and and her
co-workers observed this halo around the sun as they left for lunch around 11:35
a.m. today (Thursday). Ice crystals refract or bend incoming sunlight much as a prism
does.
This break sunlight down to its basic colors and is behind the halo formation you see
here. Had today's clouds been composed of raindrops rather than ice crystals, a
"corona" rather than a halo would have been observed. Coronas are also bright
circles but, unlike halos, the bright circle of light that makes up the corona actually
hugs the disc of the sun.
Thanks for the great picture, Jill!
-Tom Skilling
Photo courtesy of Jill Nix
