SUN HALO

 Sky watchers, the next time you are outside on a bright sunny day and cirrus clouds drift across the sun, find a flower and hold it up. You might see something like this:

 

"Yesterday, my wife and I were at an Iris flower farm in traverse city, Michigan, with 6 acres of awsome colored flowers in prime bloom," says photographer Jim Fantozzi. "I noticed the ring around the sun, so I had my wife block the sun with an iris flower and--wow--it came out pretty cool."

The ring of light is a 22-degree sun halo caused by ice crystals in the clouds. Up where cirrus clouds form, 5 to 10 km high, the air temperature is always cold enough for ice crystals, which means sun halos may be seen at any time of year. Irises, however, prefer spring. In other seasons, you might have to cover the sun with something else such as a finger or a five-year old.

The intent of this post is just to remind us of the various forms of entertainment available to we all.