12 comments have been made

1. Ian – 18 Dec 2012

   More information on the arcs and halos displayed can be found here :-
   http://www.atoptics.co.uk/halo/mdisp5.htm

   IanL…

   
   
2. Nienke Lantman, the Netherlands – 19 Dec 2012

   This is beautiful……!!!
   Thank you!

   
   
3. sachi – 19 Dec 2012

   凄い！太陽の周りの0°上部の大気光象が全部見えていますね！

   
   
4. Mark McCaughrean – 19 Dec 2012

   That is special, very special. In addition to looking at Les Cowley’s Atmospheric Optics website, as suggested by Ian, you should also think about submitting this as a possible “Optics Picture of the Day” to the same site.

   
   
5. Mark McCaughrean – 19 Dec 2012

   Just as a follow-up to my own post, there’s a very rare Parry supralateral arc in this image. It’s the slight hook- or V-shaped enhancement in the rainbow-coloured supralateral arc which extends over to the right-side of the image in the upper half, beneath the upside-down circumzenithal arc.

   The Parry supralateral arc is towards the right of the thing white arc which extends from the Sun out to the upper-right of the image: this is the heliac arc.

   All in all, some very rare things in this beautifully captured image: well done!

   
   
6. Les Cowley – 19 Dec 2012

   Halos around the cirrus fringe of Sandy were exceptional and seen from New England down to Alabama. The Alabama halo displays were outstanding (1) for the rarity and clarity of the halos and (2) that they occurred in high cirrus – usually such fine halos are seen in low level diamond dust and then rarely.

   The bright halos from top to bottom are:
   circumzenithal arc
   supralateral arc
   upper suncave Parry arc
   upper tangent arc
   22 degree halo
   22 degree parhelion (sundog)
   parhelic circle

   The superb rarities are
   (a)helic arc stretching diagonally upeards from left to right
   (b)exceptionally rare Hastings arc from the top of the Parry arc to the right – look carefully!
   (c)rare Wegener arc below the Hastings and parallel to it – not so obvious
   (d)Parry supralateral arc
   (e)a trace of an upper Lowitz arc between the Parrt and upper tangents.

   A truly outstanding – even sublime – display.

   Les

   
   
7. Anne Downie, SW Scotland – 19 Dec 2012

   Wonderful display – how exciting this must have been to see it!

   
   
8. Jane – 19 Dec 2012

   Thanks everyone! Everything appeared gradually, so it started with the standard 22 degree halo and sundogs, and then the rest started to appear over the next hour or two. It was really something.

   
   
9. Lauren Antanaitis – 19 Dec 2012

   This is absolutely stunning. Congratulations on a wonderful capture, and thank you so very much for sharing it with us all! What a rare treat to see, I’m sure!!!

   
   
10. Sam Jowett – 4 Jan 2013

    Absolutely fantastic display and great job of capturing so much of it with the right exposure. I’ve seen displays with 3 or 4 features at once before, but this is something else! Need the right place and the right time for something like this… even those of us watching for them will be lucky to witness a display like this first hand. Thanks for sharing. :-)

    
    
11. Jane – 4 Jan 2013

    Thanks. I was so worried about everything showing up in the photos, so it was a relief to get them off the camera and see that they were okay.

    
    
12. Moraya – 7 Jan 2013

    Beautiful and superb shot!!!