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APOD
Astronomy Picture of the Day
Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.
A Sun Halo Over Tennessee
Explanation: Sometimes it looks like the Sun is being viewed through a large lens . In the above case, however, there are actually millions of lenses: ice crystals . As water freezes in the upper atmosphere , small, flat, six-sided, ice crystals might be formed. As these crystals flutter to the ground, each crystal can act like a miniature lens, refracting sunlight into our view. The above image was taken near sunset last month near Nashville, Tennessee , USA . Dramatically visible behind neighborhood houses and trees and above the cloud deck is the 22 degree halo created by sunlight refracting off of atmospheric ice crystals.
| Date | March 9, 2005 |
|---|---|
| Credit | Credit & Copyright: Vydor |
| Authors & editors: | Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP) |
| A service of: |
ASD at NASA / GSFC, NASA Science Activation & Michigan Tech. U. |