Ring around the Sun today.. 01/11/2010

[Tiger0107]

Has anyone checked the sun outside today.. There is a ring around it...

[Tiger0107]

[BUGGOFF]

Yip, saw it.

[Tiger0107]

I could be wrong about this but is could be a 22 degree halo.......

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/22_degree_halo

A 22° halo is a halo, one type of optical phenomenon, forming a circle 22° around the sun, or occasionally the moon. It forms as sunlight is refracted in hexagonal ice crystals suspended in the atmosphere. As the light beam passes through two sides of the prism forming a 60° angle, the angle of minimum deviation is almost 22° (namely, 21.84° on average; 21.54° for red and 22.37° for blue). This wavelength-dependent variation in refraction causes the inner edge of the circle to be reddish while the outer edge is bluish.[1] A 22° halo may be visible on as many as 100 days per year.[2]
Pathway of light through a hexagonal prism in the optimal angle resulting in minimum deviation.
A 22° moon halo photographed in Germany December 12, 2004.
A 22° halo photographed in Guatemala

Light passing through the hexagonal ice prisms is deflected twice, which produces deviation angles ranging from 22° to 50°. Lesser deviation results in a brighter halo along the inner edge of the circle, while greater deviation contribute to the weaker outer part of the halo. As no light is refracted at smaller angles than 22° the sky is darker inside the halo. [3] This effect is similar to Alexander's band, which lies between primary and secondary rainbows. [4]

22° halos form when the sky contains millions of variously oriented (poorly correlated) ice crystals. Some of these happen to be aligned perpendicular to the sun's light as viewed by any given observer, which produces the illuminated 22° circle, while other crystals produce the same phenomenon for other observers.

Like other ice halos, 22° halos appear when the sky is covered by thin cirrus clouds containing the ice crystals that cause the phenomenon. Small colourful coronas much nearer the sun produced by water droplets can occasionally be confused with 22° halos. [5]

[Warren G]

Yes now my eyes are watering from looking at the sun

No you are correct in saying that

[ChrisG]

Yip tiger you are right, I have seen it happen to the moon a few times.

[JohnHoffe]

I have been confidentially informed that it is Planet X, made up from anti-matter, that is approaching us for the 21 December 2012 "end of the world as we know it" event and it is this planets magnetic fields starting to interfere with the Earths' magnetic field and causing a diffraction of light from the Sun.

[eben]

I can't see it....

[Warren G]

Eben, umm that looks BAD

[jolas]

Eishhhhhhh THAT looks like the UK

We also saw the same thing from Paarl 2 days ago. Have seen it with the moon before, never with the sun

[hitlers revenge]

I've seen this many a time with the sun. Maybe its because I spend more hours outside than the general office desk jockey

[karmakoma]

Finally, they arrived !

[Pine]

Finally, they arrived !

No, they have NOT. It was a weather balloon.

[karmakoma]

Think it's time to call Mulder and Scully, dont you ?