Clouds occasionally form halo rings around the Sun due to the refraction of light through ice crystals
the verdict
SUPPORTED
the evidence backs this
confidence 77/100
Scientific literature robustly supports the fact that ice crystals within high clouds refract sunlight to form optical halo rings around the Sun.
Evidence for · 4
Halos in cirrus clouds: why are classic displays so rare?
2005 · cited by 1
Cirrus clouds consisting of hexagonal ice crystals are identified as the microphysical source that predictably produces optical phenomena such as 22-degree and 46-degree halos.
See more details
More for · 3
Ice Crystal Characterization in Cirrus Clouds III: Retrieval of Ice Crystal Shape and Roughness from Observations of Halo Displays
2022 · cited by 1
Ground-based imaging of 22-degree and 46-degree halo displays confirms that ice crystal microphysical properties in clouds determine these optical rings.
Observations of Halo Scattering From Single Ice Crystals
1986 · cited by 0
Ice crystal halos surrounding the sun and moon are established optical occurrences resulting from light-ice crystal interactions.
An Atlas of Refraction Halos
1997 · cited by 0
Refraction halos in ice crystals provide the basis for classifying the various rings and optical displays observed around the sky.