Did you see a halo around the sun? Here is how it formed

Credit: DaytonDailyNews

Multiple #SkyWitness7 reporters posted photos showing a beautiful phenomena: A halo around the sun.

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Storm Center 7 Meteorologist Kirstie Zontini explains why we saw the halo:

LOCAL WEATHER: Snow expected to return to the area this week

  1. Thin high clouds had moved in. They are so high they are made up of ice crystals.
  2. The sunlight is refracted in those ice crystals. This means the light changes directions or bends.
  3. The ice crystals act like a prism breaking the colors a part creating a rainbow or halo around the sun. The light is also reflected outward so you can see it if you are positioned just right.

This can also happen around the moon.

Photo credit in video: Brooke Villinger-Jordan‎, Denise Stickles, and Travis Rupert.

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