Winter Halo Expedition

Images by Jukka Ruoskanen taken on the ice of Lake Pielinen, Finland.

A group of avid halo observers spent nights last week in Koli National Park chasing halos.

The 180° wide view shows a lunar 22° halo, paraselenae, upper and lower tangent arcs and a paraselenic circle the lunar version of the parhelic circle. Near the horizon are fragments of a 46° halo. Artificial light pillars are at right. Diamond dust generated the halos.

All images ©Jukka Ruoskanen, shown with permission
At 63° North an excited oxygen atom aurora competes with the Moon and complete paraselenic circle.
Atmospheric
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Sampling the halo making ice crystals. And in the sky, Orion the mighty hunter is dwarfed by the halos.