Astrophoto: Lanzarote Sun Halo by Hans Schremmer

A halo around the Sun, as see on the island of Lanzarote in the Canary Islands. Credit: 'Astrohans'

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A beautiful and colorful halo — a 22 degree ring — as seen on the island of Lanzarote in the Canary Islands, taken by ‘Astrohans” (a.k.a. Hans Schremmer) on Flickr. Hans posted that circumhorizontal arc is also visible, and that the photo was taken on May 8, 2010 in Playa Blanca, using a Canon EOS 400D Digital.

Halos form when light from the Sun or Moon is refracted by ice crystals associated with thin, high-level clouds (like cirrostratus clouds). A 22 degree halo is a ring of light 22 degrees from the Sun (or Moon) and is the most common type of halo observed.

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See more from Astrohans Flickr stream, or at the Arbeitskreis Meteore e.V website, an astronomy club in Germany club which focuses on atmospheric phenomena and meteors.

Want to get your astrophoto featured on Universe Today? Join our Flickr group or send us your images by email (this means you’re giving us permission to post them). Please explain what’s in the picture, when you took it, the equipment you used, etc.

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy has been with Universe Today since 2004, and has published over 6,000 articles on space exploration, astronomy, science and technology. She is the author of two books: "Eight Years to the Moon: the History of the Apollo Missions," (2019) which shares the stories of 60 engineers and scientists who worked behind the scenes to make landing on the Moon possible; and "Incredible Stories from Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos" (2016) tells the stories of those who work on NASA's robotic missions to explore the Solar System and beyond. Follow Nancy on Twitter at https://twitter.com/Nancy_A and and Instagram at and https://www.instagram.com/nancyatkinson_ut/