The images and clips recording this "strange phenomenon" were shared by this passenger with Thanh Nien Newspaper.
"First time seeing!"
The passenger mentioned above is Mr. Ngo Van Khanh, a teacher in Binh Dinh. He said that on the flight from Ho Chi Minh City to Phu Cat (Binh Dinh) on January 19, when looking out the window, he accidentally caught and recorded a scene of a colorful halo like a rainbow surrounding the shadow of the plane.
The phenomenon of a rainbow surrounding the shadow of an airplane was captured on a flight from Ho Chi Minh City to Binh Dinh.
PHOTO: NGO VAN KHANH
This passenger took the photos at 8:13 a.m. on January 19 through the plane window. The highlight of the photo is a rainbow-colored halo surrounding the shadow, creating a magical scene. Wherever the plane moves, the shadow follows.
"I found out that this phenomenon is quite strange. This is the first time I have seen it. Directly observing this phenomenon, I feel very lucky because it looks very magical and interesting. I have a habit of taking many moments in life, so I did not miss it and immediately filmed and took pictures," the visitor recounted.
Decoding the strange phenomenon of 'halo surrounding planes'
When viewing the shared images and clips, Mr. Nguyen Anh Tuan, former head of the Ho Chi Minh City Amateur Astronomy Club (HAAC), said the above phenomenon was a halo surrounding the shadow of an airplane.
Is it rare?
According to scientific documents, this is an optical phenomenon. Accordingly, when there is a halo surrounding the shadow of an aircraft on a cloudy background, it is due to the backscattering of sunlight by small water droplets in the atmosphere.
This phenomenon requires the viewer to stand directly between the light source and the water droplets, where the size and distribution of the water droplets will affect the beauty of the light.
This halo consists of one or more concentric rings, fading in succession, each ring being red on the outside and slightly blue towards the center. Because of its shape, this phenomenon is sometimes mistaken for a circular rainbow, but circular rainbows are much larger in diameter and are caused by different physical processes.
Like a rainbow, the halo around the plane's shadow is centered on the point opposite the sun, which is the same as the shadow cast by your head, says Space.com . And it's the same as the larger shadow cast by the plane if you're looking out the plane's window.
Passengers on flight from Ho Chi Minh City to Binh Dinh saw a "strange phenomenon": How to decode it?
Additionally, the shadow of the plane has nothing to do with creating the halo. The halo and the shadow just happen to be in the same direction away from the sun, resulting in the combination seen in the photo and clip.
The former head of the Ho Chi Minh City Amateur Astronomy Club said that this is not a rare phenomenon, and can be easily seen when we look at the shadow of an airplane when traveling by this means of transport. The phenomenon can be completely explained from a scientific perspective, and is not a strange phenomenon.
Where else can you see a halo?
Today, most people see halos from airplanes. But they are also commonly observed from very tall buildings. Before the age of air travel , people reported seeing halos while climbing mountains.
The same conditions—the sun behind you and a cloud in front—can also cast your shadow into the mist as you climb a high mountain peak. You might then see a halo around the shadow of your own head.
That type of halo is called a Brocken specter. The halo is circular, like the halo you sometimes see around the sun or moon.
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