OPOD - Canada Halos

Halos at Fernie, Canada ~ By Ian Cameron, transientlight photography. "The images were taken with a high end compact camera with considerable incredulity and awe whilst skiing in the mountains high up in the resort of Fernie first thing after the lifts opened approx. 9.30am in early Feb 2012. The display got better and better with multiple halos while a diffused sun spread shadows of the treeline. There is no additional processing on the main image. The lens used was 35mm equivalent so a considerable proportion of the 22° halo and others are not shown. Nevertheless they were intensely colourful and several skiers who also stopped in wonder exclaimed that they had clearly died and gone to heaven." Images ©Ian Cameron, shown with permission.

A colourful 22° halo from randomly oriented ice crystals arches over the treeline. Touching its top is an upper tangent arc produced by hexagonal column crystals drifting with their long axes nearly horizontal. Above the tangent arc and concave to the sun is a rare Parry arc. Its progenitors were column crystals oriented with long axes horizontal and two prism faces horizontal.

Diamond dust, ice crystals drifting nearby, produced the display. The 'spots' on the top image are individual crystal glints.