Circumzenithal Arc, Paranal Observatory
Halos at Paranal, Chile site of the European Southern Observatory. The sun is partly hidden by the housing of one of the four optically coupled 8.2 meter telescopes. A weak 22º halo circles the sun which is also flanked by sundogs. High above is a bright prismatic circumzenithal arc. Touching the CZA and curving downwards is a faint supralateral arc. It is brightest on the left. Always look for a CZA when the sun is fairly low and there are sundogs. Imaged on 21st March '02 when the sun was 22º high by Sylvain Rondi (site). He joined nine separate images to make this panoramic view. Another view. Images ©2002 Sylvain Rondi, shown with permission.