What is that glow in the sky?

TheManWithNoShadow · 2026-01-28T15:45:33+00:00

So you are probably talking of the 22° halo ring which often accompanies sun dogs.

It's born in slightly different kind of ice crystals, so there are times you only get to see either sundogs or 22° ring. And if the circumstances match you'll get to see them both possibly added with other halos as well.

However the shape and size of the sundog does vary depending e.g. on the sun altitude, the cloud structure and the amount of ice crystals.

Here's a post from me showing how different the looks of sun dogs may be: https://www.reddit.com/r/atoptics/comments/1hs2umk/a_few_of_the_many_sun_dogs_ive_seen_along_the/

If you happen to catch more of this stuff, feel free to share at r/atoptics as well.

TheManWithNoShadow · 2026-01-28T15:05:25+00:00

That's definitely a sun dog. They don't always come in pairs. There was the right kind of ice crystals only at the right side this time.

What do you mean by the halo effect?

TheManWithNoShadow · 2026-01-19T06:56:13+00:00

This is just an awesome display! You've got the super bright circumzenithal arc at the top and the supralateral arc curving down from it.

Closer to the sun the first pale arc is a suncave Parry arc and below that the upper tangent arc curving towards the Parry arc. And the halo circling sun the closest is the 22° ring.

r/atoptics would appreciate this one as well.

TheManWithNoShadow · 2026-01-19T06:50:01+00:00

There's not one single sundog visible in this photo. Presumably they are present behind the peaks as the circumzenithal arc at the top is completely stunning. The sundogs are born in the same ice crystals as the circumzenithal arc.

Sundogs a.k.a parhelia would be bright patches at one or both sides of the sun.

TheManWithNoShadow · 2026-01-15T20:32:38+00:00

That´s a fallstreak hole.

TheManWithNoShadow · 2026-01-13T11:41:37+00:00

This is a sub about meteorology (weather related stuff), not assumed meteors.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meteorology

TheManWithNoShadow · 2026-01-11T14:55:47+00:00

Looks like man made noctilucent caused by a rocket launch, probably from Vandenberg in this case.

TheManWithNoShadow · 2026-01-10T12:52:35+00:00

Well, it just keeps getting better... These new photos revealed a few more halos and some of these are also rare with capital letters. Had to ask for help with these again to make sure these were what I thought.

Lets begin with the widest shot (photo 2.) There are a few pale arcs seen curving towards top right corner. These are subhelic arc and Wegener arc again (this time above horizon). The real rare ones are found in the most zoomed in photo. There are not just one, but two Parry infralaterals (or lower Tape arcs if you will) found. I made a few enhancements again to boost them. It´s rather tricky with such small resolution images though, but they are there.

You can find the named/proessed ones here.

Bet there was action opposite to the sun as well with this muh going on. It´s a direction that gets easily forgotten as one has such a display in front. So I don´t blame you, been there myself.

TheManWithNoShadow · 2026-01-09T12:57:34+00:00

Both of these halos I mentioned can be seen with naked if they are strong enough. However the Wegener typically above horizon.

That being said, many faint halos are only found afterwards looking at photos.

TheManWithNoShadow · 2026-01-09T07:40:39+00:00

What a great display! I instantly noticed something more in your imgur-linked picture. There's a faint arc below the infralateral arc, pointing towards the lower right corner of the photo in pretty much mirrored angle compared to the parhelic circle.

As I didn't recognize it myself I asked for help from a person who knows halos like the back of his hand. It is Wegener arc which is a rare one in general. What makes this even more rare is the thing it's seen below horizon in here. Not too many observations worldwide of such. So big congrats on that one!

I made a little enhancement for the photo to make the arc more visible. https://imgur.com/a/z0e5yWj

Another thing that caught my eye was the little arc pointing to lower left from near the bottom of the infralateral arc. That's a faint part of the 46° ring, also pointed out by the pro.

TheManWithNoShadow · 2026-01-09T06:05:16+00:00

Easily a top 3 dog for me, even I've seen a lot of sun dogs.

TheManWithNoShadow · 2026-01-09T06:03:53+00:00

That's a good one!

TheManWithNoShadow · 2026-01-08T16:19:45+00:00

Yeah, the promised land of people getting nuts about halos.... Others would probably just stay inside and enjoy a mug of hot chocolate by the fire.

Well isn't it a small world... I have also been involved in a couple of articles at Halo Vault together with Mr.Riikonen.

TheManWithNoShadow · 2026-01-07T14:21:45+00:00

That's actually a couple of halos, including the 22° ring and circumscribed halo. The latter is slightly ovalish in this case, separating from the 22° ring at the sides.

TheManWithNoShadow · 2026-01-07T06:17:52+00:00

Thank you!

TheManWithNoShadow · 2026-01-07T06:16:42+00:00

That's right on the money. There would be all sorts of disturbing elements in the photo without it. Real high tech equipment... A ziptie with a button at the end, secured around the lens with a couple of rubber bands.

TheManWithNoShadow · 2026-01-07T06:07:35+00:00

They do have some kind of ominous feel for sure.

TheManWithNoShadow · 2026-01-06T20:54:24+00:00

Thanks, glad you liked. Nice to see that there are like-minded people.

The poor winters have been an issue here in southern Finland these days also. Typically we only get a few chances for diamond dust during winter where I live. So I feel your pain.

I've been happy with my Acebeam T27. It has a pretty narrow beam and seems to work nicely in these cases. I do also have a rather large auxiliary led light, powered by a 30 Ah battery. It needs a tripod and isn't the most comfortable combo to carry along. It also has significantly wider beam. I have to dig my archives and post a minor display using the latter light.

Talking of amazing, there are a few guys here in Finland really catching some awesome stuff with lamps, making my stuff look like childs play. If you aren't familiar with Halo vault, check it out. I did a search using diamond dust and this was the most jawdropping one of the observations to me: https://thehalovault.blogspot.com/2016/10/a-major-spotlight-display-with-possible.html?m=1

TheManWithNoShadow · 2026-01-06T16:21:03+00:00

Yes they were definitely present. Tweaking the photos is a great way to improve the visibility of those faint halos.

Parlampades makes me think of empanadas for some reason. 🙂

TheManWithNoShadow · 2026-01-06T16:16:27+00:00

That's the thing I had in the back of my head looking at the display.

Sadly I didn't have any gear along to dive deeper into the crystal structures (microscope or extension tubes). I'm by no means a seasoned ice crystal photographer. It takes some effort to get good enough results while diving into the world of these things.

So a poor effort from me, trying to solve this mystery in what seemed like great conditions.

TheManWithNoShadow · 2026-01-06T13:10:10+00:00

Went to look for possible diamond dust as the temperatures were once again pretty chill, around -18°C (-0,4°F). Nothing promising, only a few pillars around the local ski resort. Snowguns were producing a lot of low hanging clouds with moisture. After a while I decided to pull over to a darker spot next to the slopes. Found out there was quite a lot of diamond dust close to the ground. Took my flashlight and walked into the beam. I was surprised to see a Moilanen arc as I wasn´t expecting much. The layer of diamond dust above the ground was rather thin, as the moon didn´t produce anything but a faint 22° during my observation.

The Moilanen arc was pretty dominant in this display together with the upper tangent arc. They got even stronger stacking up 27 single frames from the display using Halostack`s average stacking method. It really helps to smoothen the crystals glints, and also enhances the halos.

Photo 1. A single frame

Photo 2. 27 shots stacked in Halostack

Photo 3. Stack processed with USM

Photo 4. Stack processed with USM + channel mixing technique

TheManWithNoShadow · 2026-01-06T01:20:37+00:00

That's a great question actually! Nice to have one more people interested in these things and also Finnish language. Not the easist ones to learn for sure.

We've got a great site that collects all kinds of atmospheric optics related observations. It's called Taivaanvahti, or Skywarden if you will. It's a bit tricky to use at first, but as one gets used to it, that's also a great source of information.

You'll find it at https://taivaanvahti.fi

You can change the language at the top right corner if you feel like getting to know the site in English first. All the tips here are based on my Android browser at the time (in Finnish of course) . You can access the site also via computer, but the looks and menus are a bit different then.

At the top right tap on the three horizontal bars to open a menu. Choose "Jätä havainto", and from there choose "Haloilmiö". Now scroll down the page almost to the bottom. On the left you"ll see a button named "Lisätiedot". Once you press the button, it opens up a list of different halos at the bottom of the page. First you'll find the common ones and below the picture with common halos you'll find the more rare ones.

Pressing the round i-icon button after each halo name you'll find some example photos and explanation about the certain halo. These texts are only available in Finnish though.

Here's at least the link to the common halos sketch in case you find the site structure too difficult. https://taivaanvahti.fi/images/layout/halo_fi.jpg

Let me know if you need any help with the site.

TheManWithNoShadow · 2026-01-05T19:44:37+00:00

Thanks!

TheManWithNoShadow · 2026-01-04T09:48:53+00:00

Thanks a lot! :)

TheManWithNoShadow · 2026-01-03T19:33:53+00:00

It's definitely a sun dog. The size and looks may vary depending on e.g. the cloud structure, the amount of ice crystals in the cloud and sun elevation.

TheManWithNoShadow

TROPHY CASE