Halo appears around the Sun in Quang Ngai

Xuất hiện hào quang vây quanh Mặt trời ở Quảng Ngãi - Ảnh 1. — The sun's halo appeared beautifully at noon on May 14 in Quang Ngai - Photo: VO MINH HUY

Mr. Vo Minh Huy (Binh Tan Phu commune, Binh Son district, Quang Ngai), the person who took the photos of the solar halo, said: "I was sitting in front of my house when I saw a rainbow-like light streak surrounding the Sun. I used my phone to take pictures and record this phenomenon."

Many people in the plain districts of Quang Ngai province also clearly saw the solar halo phenomenon.

The special thing is that this halo appears for a long time before "dissipating". Mr. Thong (74 years old, Nghia Thang commune, Tu Nghia district) said this phenomenon happens occasionally. But it rarely lasts as long as this time. The halo surrounding the Sun is clear this time.

On social networks, many people shared videos and images of the solar halo in Quang Ngai, attracting the attention of many people.

The elderly believe that this phenomenon often occurs as a sign of an impending storm or unusual weather.

mặt trời - Ảnh 2. — Many elderly people believe that this phenomenon appears before a big storm - Photo: VO MINH HUY

Dr. Nguyen Ngoc Huy - weather forecasting expert - said that "solar halo; solar corona; solar halo" are different names for the same rare optical phenomenon.

This phenomenon appears as a bright ring around the Sun (or Moon). The phenomenon is usually circular, sometimes with rainbow-like colors. It occurs when sunlight is refracted and reflected through ice crystals suspended in the atmosphere, mainly in cirrostratus clouds at high altitudes (about 5-10km).

This is caused by hexagonal ice crystals (like tiny prisms) in high clouds that bend (refract) light; the most common angle of this phenomenon is 22 degrees, because that is the angle at which light is deflected as it passes through said ice crystals.

Regarding the folk concept of solar halos as weather forecasts, Dr. Huy said that it is well-founded because cirrostratus clouds containing ice crystals often appear before the weather changes, such as the days when it will rain in Quang Ngai.

But this phenomenon is not a sign of long-term weather.