Gorgeous sun halo appears in S'pore sky on Sep. 8, 2021

People in the past used the sun halo as a way to predict rain.

Zhangxin Zheng | September 09, 2021, 05:25 PM

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Some people out and about for lunch in Singapore on Sep. 8 were pleasantly surprised to see a halo around the sun.

The halo was visible from various parts of Singapore at around 12:30pm.

Here are some photos taken by Mothership readers:

Tanglin Halt

Photo courtesy of Ranvitha.

Aljunied

Here's one captured at Aljunied with a RSAF F16 captured in the frame too.

Photo courtesy of Remy Osman.

Photo courtesy of Remy Osman.

Photo courtesy of Remy Osman.

Photo courtesy of Gabriel Lim Chee Kiong.

Photo courtesy of Jady Lee.

Havelock

Photo courtesy of Alison Koh.

Photo courtesy of Melvin Ang.

Photo courtesy of Melvin Ang.

Photo courtesy of Melvin Ang.

Photo courtesy of Melvin Ang.

Jurong East

Photo by Kam-Yung Soh.

Gardens by the Bay

Photo by Jaren Studios.

Photo by Jaren Studios.

Why do halos appear?

Halos appear around the sun as they indicate high, thin cirrus clouds are present at 20,000 feet or more above ground level, which contain millions of tiny ice crystals, according to Earthsky.

The halos are created when light splits and reflects from these ice crystals, and only appear as a halo when the crystals are positioned with respect to your eye.

The phenomenon is also known as 22-degree halos as the ring has a radius of about 22 degrees around the sun (or even the moon).

According to the University of Illinois, this happens when sunlight enters one side of an ice crystal in the cloud and exits through the side at a 22-degree angle.

The bending of the light by 22 degrees from its original direction, produces a ring of light that is observed at 22 degrees from the sun or moon.

Such phenomenon happens occasionally in Singapore.

Top images by Remy Osman and Jaren Studios