Fine Art Photography Prints & Images of New Zealand Landscapes & People

Ice Crystal Halos

22 Degree Lunar Halo – Caroline Bay 7 April 2001

Apparently, large rings around the sun and moon are more common than rainbows - in Germany they are said to occur about 100 times a year.  Somehow I have been denied such probability of seeing them.  If it wasn’t for other people drawing my attention I probably would have never photographed them let alone seen the phenomena.

But then, what are the chances of walking outside, looking up when the moon is full, seeing the clouds just right to yield a huge halo spread over much of the midnight sky?  To photograph it well, a camera and tripod must be on hand and a wide open space found nearby in a hurry. Everything must then be hurriedly set up in darkness and exposures perfected - all before the amazing ring of faint light vanishes.

To complicate things, several pictures have to be taken with the widest lens to get it all in.  If not enough of a problem, some attempt at composition is also demanded so everything will finally stitch together into a complete and visually pleasing scene.

This was my first and, so far, only moon halo sighting when wandering outside one night to farewell guests. They looked up and pointed it out to me.  I never expected to photograph anything like this again.

22 Degree Solar Halo – Lake Benmore 26 Oct 2008

While driving west along Lake Benmore on a spectacular day, my cell phone alerted me to my first ever view of a solar halo.  By now I had some idea about such halos and moved decisively to secure a series of valuable shots before it was over in a wink.  The people we had been visiting saw it and by some chance we were not to far away and within phone coverage to receive their message.  The result is the above image assembled from four separate photos taken to define the sun and avoid lens flare.  A similar image of mine was published in the Timaru Herald on 30 October 2008.

22 Degree Solar Halo – Oamarma 26 Oct 2008

Parhelia (Sun Dogs) forming 'false suns' left and right of the sun. Less common Tangential Arc form the flat wavy 'm' on top of the 22 degree Halo.

I was utterly astonished to not only see this phenomenon again three hours later but to clearly see bright sundogs as well.  I was previewing my first image for a commercial photo shoot and there the two extra suns glowed out of the back of my camera.  Other lines were discerned and I considered their fortuitous use for my shoot.  Soon I was told of yet another band of light glowing like a broad slice of rainbow far overhead.  Intuitively grabbing at shots, there was little time to think of finding a clear horizon: the high cloud was passing on, the halos and arcs were fading. The perfect landscape shot eluded me.

High above, the 'upside down 'rainbow' CZA dominates over faintly detectable 46 degree and supralateral arcs.

From my little knowledge, I assumed the rainbow effect was part of a secondary 46 degree circle and sent images to James McGregor of metvuw.co.nz and was taken aback when he said they ‘created quite a stir’. His and Ian Coopers comments here prompted me to investigate further.

I was to learn the extra features where not so common, the rainbow effect even less so. Using a simulator for comparison, the upside down rainbow proved to be a Circumzenithal Arc (CZA) a quite rare phenomenon reported to occur only 13 times annually in Germany).

HaloSim3 the ice crystal halo simulator software was downloaded from the Atmospheric Optics website here and used to create the ideal view for the sun in the same place and time. The upside down rainbow at the top is the Circumzenithal Arc (CZA) sitting on a very faint 46 Degree Halo and Supralateral Arc. Lower down Tangential and Parry arcs sit on the 22 Degree Halo which is intersected by the Parhelic Circle with Parhelia (Sundogs) on either side.

The Omarama sun elevation for the simulation was calculated from a London Metropolitan University website on low energy design in architecture here

Image processing helped reveal unseen parts of the 46 degree halo and infralateral arcs as predicted by HaloSim3.

Again I considered my slim chance of ever seeing this. The CZA.only forms when the sun is less than 33 degrees up from the horizon and at its brightest 22 degrees up, close to the height when the cirrus cloud thinned to a passing wisp covering enough of the sky with its water crystals critically shaped and orientated.  I just happened to be pointing my camera with a super-wide angle lens towards the sundogs which are a big hint that a CZA may also be lurking around the centre of the sky.

I now know better of these clues and will be more watchful. Next time I would like to make enough photos to cover the entire sky and stitch up a 180 degree fisheye view.

Such rare phenomena makes life as a photographer so amazing.

22 Degree Solar Halo – Cook Strait 22 January 2009

Within 3 months I saw my second ever 22° Ice Crystal Halo around the sun, this time over Cook Strait on an early morning flight to Wellington. I was oblivious to the sunrise phenomena beyond the little window, mainly because I had the isle seat. My brother, sitting by the window had to mention several time there was a circle around the sun before I comprehended and scrambled for the camera.

22 Degree Lunar Halo – Maori Park 12 May 2009

This is getting strange... now I seem to be seeing ice halos everywhere,

Twenty-two Degree Lunar Halo with the Historic Lighthouse at Maori Park. The green light is from a modern navigation light fitted to the far side of the lighthouse.

Halo reports - a blog on Interesting halo displays observed around the World.

Atmospheric Optics - Light playing on water drops, dust or ice crystals in the atmosphere produces a host of visual spectacles - rainbows, halos, glories, coronas and many more. Some can be seen almost every day or so, some are once in a lifetime sights. Find out where to see them and how they form. Then seek and enjoy them outdoors.

 

Please contact info@geoffcloake with all enquiries.