It was the rarest moment ever seen that was reported in Kolkata. People in Kolkata had witnessed a rainbow halo ring around the sun at 12:00 PM in the noon. As the news spread like a fire, people started taking photos and shared them on the social media.
According to the reports, a blue and red ring are known as ’22 degree circular halo’ were spotted around the sun between 12:00 PM and 12:40 PM. This situation occurs when the rays of the Sun and the Moon get refracted through the hexagonal ice crystals present in the cirrus clouds. Hence, refraction of light leads to a formation of a colourful ring.
The seven colours are formed when the white light passes through ice crystals present in the clouds. “Halos around the sun or the moon happen when high, thin cirrus clouds are drifting high above your head. Tiny ice crystals in Earth’s atmosphere cause the halos. They do this by refracting and reflecting the light,” says an expert.
Experts also said that this kind of phenomenon in often found in cold countries, but in hot countries like India is rare and can’t be predicted. Last 22-degree halo was observed two years back in April 2013.