Unusual solar phenomena

[Rusted]

The Danish DR News and weather website is showing some rare solar images taken by Troels Nielsen from Skagen.

All rights belong to Troels Nielsen and Dansk Radio but the images are so spectacular that I wanted to share them with an interested audience.

Note that I have reduced gamma to increase the contrast without blowing out the highlights. I also downsized the image for posting here.

The following direct link leads to the article written in Danish:

https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/vejret/spektakulaere-og-sjaeldne-haloer-set-over-danmark

Rough translation: DR DK News/Weather/Spectacular and rare haloes seen over Denmark.

[Mr H in Yorkshire]

Wow that's just about every possible phenomenon in one package. Most impressive. 

[RT65CB-SWL]

6 hours ago, Mr H in Yorkshire said:

Wow that's just about every possible phenomenon in one package. Most impressive. 

I was just thinking the same. 

[Carbon Brush]

Thank you for posting. An amazing sight.
I think if I had that view it would be specs cleaning time. Or if imaging, looking for lens problems😄

[Rusted]

Thanks. The text, in Danish, talks of the rarity of the ice crystals involved forming simultaneously.
Normally these are six sided but can be of many different forms. It required high altitude cirrus [ice] clouds and high winds.
The crystals must be clear plates and arranged at very specific angles. Some have to lie horizontally.
While others must be vertically orientated. Others at 22º to achieve the bows.
All with recognised names. [Language dependent of course]
If you realise that bue mean "bow" then the Danish description makes more sense.
The images were taken on the northern tip of Jylland/Jutland.

[Naughty Neal]

Beautiful photo.

[WolfieGlos]

Now that’s interesting, we caught something similar in northern Norfolk the other day which looked unusual to me. I honestly didn’t know what it was and assumed it was linked to the cloud, but it looks to be the same and had the inverted bow at the top - just visible in the second picture. What I can now see on the photo is a faint second ring underneath it too.

Thanks for posting this! 

 

[maw lod qan]

That's is amazing and beautiful!

Thanks for posting it.

[Rusted]

9 hours ago, WolfieGlos said:

Now that’s interesting, we caught something similar in northern Norfolk the other day which looked unusual to me. I honestly didn’t know what it was and assumed it was linked to the cloud, but it looks to be the same and had the inverted bow at the top - just visible in the second picture. What I can now see on the photo is a faint second ring underneath it too.

Thanks for posting this! 

 

 

Thanks for posting these. You have definitely captured the [more common] solar halo.
The colourful, inverted, circumzenithal bow or arc above is also clearly seen.
If you play with gamma in your images you can emphasise these effects for greater contrast.

I had falsely imagined that a northerly or wintry viewpoint was required.
Now it seems that the relevant ice clouds can form at more normal altitudes.

I did an image search for atmospheric solar phenomena but had to add "arcs" and "bows" to get anything useful.
Wikipedia, in particular is very poorly illustrated for atmospheric solar phenomena.
I have seen quite a few sun dogs and haloes myself. Many lunar haloes too in the right conditions.

[WolfieGlos]

Ah ha, thanks for explaining 🙂 I’ve seen a few of the solar halos too, but this is the first time I’ve noticed an inverted bow above. You’re right, playing with the images (on the phone) really does emphasise the bows.

Last solar halo I saw was mid September, and going back to the photo there’s nothing other than the halo. 

16 hours ago, Rusted said:

I had falsely imagined that a northerly or wintry viewpoint was required.
Now it seems that the relevant ice clouds can form at more normal altitudes.

We were on the northern coast of Norfolk near Sheringham when I took those photos, at 14:30 so looking about S-S-E.