LiveScience - Ethereal 'halo' and light arcs around the sun captured in photos of ultra-rare phenomena

Description

At least three separate optical phenomena are visible in the new images. Each of which is created by light refracting through millions of perfectly aligned ice crystals in the upper atmosphere. Alan Fitzsimmons, an astronomer at Queen's University Belfast in Northern Ireland, captured the unusual light show above Belfast's Botanic Gardens on May 28. The display lasted around 30 minutes, Fitzsimmons told Live Science.