Pics of the 'sun halo' are going viral on social media.
Bengaluru residents today witnessed the rare sight of a rainbow-coloured ring around the sun. Residents of the city were left marvelling as the 'halo' appeared around the sun on Monday morning. The striking circular rainbow was reportedly visible from most parts of the capital of Karnataka. It was first seen around 11 am and lasted for over an hour, in which time Bengaluru residents flooded social media with pics of the rare phenomenon.
"A rainbow-like halo has encircled the sun in a perfect circle right now," wrote actor Samyukta Hornad, sharing a picture of the sun halo. She further explained that the ring formed because of light interacting with ice crystals in the atmosphere.
Delighted Bengaluru residents took to social media to share photos of the rainbow-coloured ring. PC Mohan, Lok Sabha member from Bengaluru Central constituency, shared three photos of the "stunning sun halo" on Twitter.
Take a look at some of the pics that are going viral on Twitter:
Even the sun is social distancing, joked one Twitter user.
Although the phenomenon is rare, it is not unheard of. Some Twitter users dug up old photographs of sun halos, as seen before in other parts of the country.
"Such Sun or Moon halos are not so common however they have been witnessed earlier in the country in the past," tweeted senior IFS officer Ramesh Pandey.
Sun halo, also known as '22 degree halo', is an optical phenomenon that occurs due to sunlight refracting in millions of hexagonal ice crystals suspended in the atmosphere. It takes the form of a ring with a radius of approximately 22 degrees around the sun or the moon.
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