Christmas Sky Colours, Sweden An unusual and beautiful scene pictured by G�ran�Strand in the mountain area of J�mtland, Sweden. It was a short December afternoon and at that high latitude the sun was already less than a degree high. G�ran�s camera pointed directly opposite.?The colours are mysterious. They are too structured and far from the sun for cloud iridescence to be likely. A glory? They are always directly opposite the sun and centred on the antisolar point which here is just a degree below the horizon. We see perhaps a part of its bright centre peeping up and surrounded by a section of the first ring.?In that case, measurements of the image combined with an IRIS simulation tell us it was made by water droplets about 5-10 micron (<1/100 mm) or so across. Well within the range of mist drop sizes. There was mist in the distance but the temperature was -15 Celsius. Supercooled droplets?? Regardless of its origin, we can cherish its beauty.?

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