sundog

Bright halos are appearing around the sun in Toronto and here’s why it’s happening

by Nisean Lorde for Post City Posted: March 12, 2024

A Torontonian took a picture of what appears to be a halo around the sun and asked the r/Toronto sub-Reddit what it could be.

“What is going on with the sky/sun? Saw this just now. Any idea what’s causing this?”

What is going on with the sky/sun?
byu/poohbear1011 intoronto

Other Redditors agreed that they noticed weird halos in the sky, too.

“I noticed this too. Can see it from both downtown and High Park,” one Redditor added.

A few Redditors posted their theories, everything from the Sun receiving an “iOS update” to the Death Star exploding.

One posited that “the water vapors from the nine have come down from Xenu and entranced the marshmallow fluff.”

The explanation is much simpler.

The phenomenon is known as a solar halo—it can appear as a rainbow or a bright, white light creating a circle around the sun or moon. It happens as the sun or moon light refracts off ice crystals present in a veil of cirrus clouds.

As another Redditor noted, if you’re lucky, you might also spot another solar phenomenon: sun dogs. This is when pillars of light appear on either side of the sun due to the refraction of light through ice crystals.

According to the National Weather Surface, they’re located approximately 22 degrees either left, right, or both, from the sun, depending on where the ice crystals are present. The colors vary, ranging from red closest to the sun, to blue on the outside of the sundog.

BACK TO HOME