How to See a Sun Halo

Sun halos are among the most common of all special effects you see in the sky. Sun halos are caused by thin clouds of 6-sided pencil-shaped ice crystals that reflect or bend the sunlight that's shining through them. This provides an amazing effect of a ring around the sun, when in fact it's simply a special effect.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

1. Watch for thin cirrus clouds that are made of pencil-shaped ice crystals during the winter months.
2. Keep an eye on the sky for a circle that is always the same size covering about 22 degrees of the sky from the center of the sun to the rim of the ring.
3. Point your arm out and spread out your hand. The distance from the end of your thumb to your pinky finger covers about 22 degrees of the sky. This can act as a good gauge for you to determine whether you're looking at a sun halo.
4. Watch for the light to strike the stratocirrus clouds at a specific angle. Some of the light passes through the crystal and bends.
5. Look for a reddish glow in the inside of the crystals and a bluish glow on the outside. Most halos are largely white because there is more reflection than refraction going on.
6. Watch the weather for an approaching warm front in the winter months. This is the time when thin, high cirrus clouds of ice cycles are most likely to form haloes.
7. Watch for shapes that are slightly bigger than 22 degrees. Sometimes bigger haloes can take shape when the light shines through the end of the ice crystal and enters or leaves through one of the 6 sides.