Monday, May 01, 2006

Diamond Dust Halo in Austria

This picture was taken on December 10, 2005 by Wolfgang Gurgiser at the summit of the Hohe Salve (1829 m, Kitzbühler Alps, Austria) at a temperature of about -7°C. Contrary to what is usual, this halo was not caused by cirrus clouds, but by diamond dust which had direct contact to the ground. This diamond dust consisted of needle-shaped ice crystals smaller than 1 cm.

Besides the 22°-halo, the picture also shows a V-shaped upper tangent arc and Parry arc, the arc of Moilanen which is also V-shaped and situated at 11° above the sun, and – emanating from the sun – the heliac arc.

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