Artists have a natural eye for what constitutes art which is why if you work as an artist, it’s really not possible to technically be on vacation because your talent is with you 24/7.

But that’s also a good thing, as photographer Michael Schneider proved when he captured an absolutely angelic-looking ice halo around the sun using just an iPhone 11.

The phenomenon is caused by ice crystals freezing midair and interacting with sunlight. It even has a technical term: the 22° halo.

Speaking to Fox News, geophysicist Mika McKinnon explained: “The crystals can be high up in cirrus clouds, or closer to the ground as diamond dust or ice fog.

“Just like raindrops scatter light into rainbows, the crystals of ice can reflect and refract light, acting as mirrors or prisms depending on the shape of the crystal and the incident angle of the light.”

While he was skiing down the mount, Schneider looked over his shoulder towards the top of the mountain and beheld the stunning phenomenon as it was forming.

“I quickly realized that a halo was developing in the backlight to the Sun, initially very inconspicuous until this light phenomenon increased incredibly,” Schneider said.

“I was fascinated by the two rings around the Sun and the many light reflections.”

The photo was taken around 11 am in November 2019 while at the Hörnligrat, one of the stations of the Hörnli-Express and Urdenbahn cable cars.

“The sun had been struggling through the last snow clouds for about an hour,” Schneider wrote on his blog.

“The temperature was -7 degrees. I was waiting up here for my colleague with whom I had arranged to go skiing.

“I used the time to capture the beautiful lighting moods with my smartphone.

“This was a good fit, because a few days ago I had bought a smartphone with new camera technology, so I was able to test it a bit.”

While the 22° arc is one of the most commonly formed ice halos, it doesn’t take away from the fact that it’s a beautiful sight to behold. In fact, we should probably be thankful that such a stunning phenomenon happens more often!

 

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