The right place at the right time with the right equipment is the only reason I was lucky enough to capture the image above. I was in my car yesterday with my trusty camera by my side when I noticed a Solar halo forming, pulled over to the side of the road, got out and was starting to take the picture of the halo. As I was imaging the Solar Halo, image below, with an Upper Tangent Arc, a Second halo with a Circumzenithal Arc started to form before my very eyes, zoomed out to get the whole picture in the same frame, what a sight!!! I had decided to start carrying my camera equipped with a fisheye lens around with me 24/7 just in case something like the above were to happen, and it did.
Circumzenithal Arc, aka "A Smile in the Sky" the most beautiful of all the ice halos, sits on top the 46 degree halo/arcs. Formed by the Sunlight refracting off horizontally orientated ice crystals in the high wispy Cirrus clouds. They go unnoticed a lot of the time simply because they hang high around the Zenith, plus again, they come and go real fast, the one I imaged above lasted 10 minutes tops.
Saskatoon in the winter, this -25c weather is good for something. As I was heading for work in the morning, I noticed the lights from the city reflecting off some low clouds and a Lunar Halo, made for a pretty picture, so having my 24/7 camera with me I took the pic. I liken the Solar/Lunar Halos in the winter to the Milky Way in the Summer, both the best all encompassing celestial sky shows going.
I'll leave you now with an animation of my Double Halo.
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Double Solar Halo And Circumzenithal, Upper Tangent Arcs
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50 comments:
That sky smile gives me a smile, and I'm grateful all that cold waiting produced something to make you - and me - happy.
Circumzenithal - you sure that isn't a prescription drug? I can imagine the side effect list involving frostbite.
What a beautiful picture and how lucky you where to get it. I had a website bookmarked once that had all those natural phenomena listed and explained, but I can't seem to find it. Seems like I had been looking for sun dogs at the time. I hear ALL the good photographers carry their cameras with them ALL the time. : )
Those are incredible shots, Bob. I really like the second one the best.
Once again, nice shot and nice animation.. =)
You're always lucky aren't you?
AWESOME AWESOME shots, Bob. WOW!!! Thanks for the fisheye tip. :D
You must have your walls full of these great photos.
Happy Holidays!!!
JJ
Lol Ruth, love your definition better. When I saw the Circumzenithal form , I was quite happy, the -28c weather didn't seem to bother me anymore,lol.\m/\m/
Thanks Moonshadow, all these icehalos are too cool, and bigger then life, but they only stick around sometimes for only seconds, the reason I take my camera wherever I go,lol.\m/\m/
Thanks CJ Harley, the second one is cool too, fit my 17mm perfect.\m/\m/
Thanks Cashmere, I'm getting better with the lucky part the more I carry my camera around with me,lol.\m/\m/
Thanks JJ, lol, yes...yes I do, all over the place, it looks like a gallery in the BSMT, I am so into me,lol.\m/\m/
Bob:
Like I've said before, you always manage to get the great shots. Every ready Bob.
The circumzenithal Arc may be a smile in the sky, but it sure brought a smile to my eye. I think this is the first time I ever heard of this thing. Never too old to learn something new.
Thanks for an outstanding post.
Happy stargazing.
Wonderful photography and glad to discover your site!
Thanks swubird, imagine my surprise when it started to form, have always looked for it but never saw one till now.\m/\m/
Thansk roentarre!\m/\m/
i just wanted to say that i love your photos, they are always awesome! thanks for sharing them.
I know, it's not nice from me to tell you this: we have now 78F, warm like in May... :)
Stay warm, Bob! The halo is fabulous!
(btw, do you get the book already?)
Sue's Daily Photography
Yep - never leave home without it - you just never know. And what a surprise you got! They are really beautiful, Bob, and I think that animated one is my new favorite.
Bob,
Those are really some beautiful pictures! I don't believe I have had the chance to witness a solar halo. At least not when I was consicous of what it indeed was.
Thanks,
Jesse
What a wonderful world of blogging!!! I put all comments into one from TOP to BOTTOM of this whole blog....EXCELLENT!!!& AMAZING!!
Thanks so much PJ, glad you like them.\m/\m/
Thanks Susanne, lol, its wind chill -40c here now. Still no book, apparentely it is in transit.\m/\m/
Thanks Kathy, mine too for sure and the image is my fav also.\m/\m/
Thanks Jess, they do happen in warmer climates, not as contrasty and even shorter duration.\m/\m/
Wow, thanks vhing, glad you dropped by.\m/\m/
I've been meaning to tell you for days how impressed I am with the gorgeous pictures you've taken. I'm not easily stunned speechless but your pictures frequently do this. This was no exception. (I especially loved the Lunar halo in Saskatoon).
I also think you have the coolest blog banner EVER. Just sayin'.
Thanks Stephanie! So glad you like our cold weather halo/smiley pics, makes the -40c temps here in Saskatoon a little more bearable,lol.
Apparentely there was what they called "A Saskatoon Event" back in the 60's that they were able to catch the Kern arc,(the complete circle on top the 46 degree arc) can't find anything on it by googling, I guess we in Saskatoon are noted for these type of phenomena.\m/\m/
I just learnt soooo much by reading your post again. Great resource for a photographer!
this is cool photo i really appreciate this kind of stuff specially when i was a kid and until now im a kid at heart thanks for sharing!!
Wow, thanks again roentarre, glad you are getting something out of this site.\m/\m/
Thanks a lot your "Health Assistant", I too am a kid at heart when it comes to sky events of any type.\m/\m/
this is the first time for me to see a halo and also heard of it. thanks for all the information. however, i do not think i can handle the negative temperatures waiting outside :(
great shots
Great post Bob...Really you are profesional in this field
WOW!!! AMAZING!!! I LOVE them all...I saw a halo once years and years back at night...so beautiful...
Lol betchai, we had -39c this morning when I went out to capture a Sunrise, now that's cold.\m/\m/
Thanks Olivier, glad you like them.\m/\m/
Thanks Franx, good to hear from you again.\m/\m/
Thanks Amel, they are beautiful, glad you were able to see one.\m/\m/
Bob, your photo looks so peaceful.
You've outdone yourself yet again! BEAUTIFUL! You should start your own company where tourists come and spend a week following you around so they are at the right place at the right time, as you always seem to be, to take fantastic sky shots!
I'm so glad you're out there looking up--I'd be missing so much otherwise.
Thanks Rose!\m/\m/
Thanks Genie, you are too kind, don't know about having people follow me around, cramp my style,lol.\m/\m/
great images, thanks for sharing
I worry about you and your driving! How do you keep track of the road and the sky at the same time? I'm glad you can handle that as you capture such fabulous photos!
Circumzenithal sounds like a rite of passage...;(
Thanks kRiZ cPEc, no problem!\m/\m/
Lol Don, hey it gets tricky, but I manage, had a few close calls,lol.\m/\m/
Now I know what they are Bob, this is so cool! You know once on the plane up above 10 000 feet I saw one. I kept calling a circular rainbow, I was 14 then, but no body wanted to believe me until I saw one in the Reader's Digest! I finally had a proof.
Excellent post with excellent images. Anna :)
Thanks Anna, they are very beautiful too bad you didn't get a pic of them, they are called Glories.\m/\m/
Glories, what a nice name. 23 years ago, only professional photographers had cameras, lol. Thanks Bob, happy holidays
Anna :)
cool blog
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