22° halo

"Moon ring" redirects here. For other uses, see Rings Around the Moon (disambiguation).

22° halo around the Sun.

22° halo around the Moon.

A 22° halo is an atmospheric optical phenomenon that consists of a halo with an apparent radius of approximately 22° around the Sun or Moon. When visible around the Moon, it is also known as a moon ring or winter halo. It forms as sunlight or moonlight is refracted by millions of hexagonal ice crystals suspended in the atmosphere. Its radius is roughly the length of an outstretched hand at arm's length.

Formation

Pathway of light through a hexagonal prism in the optimal angle resulting in minimum deviation.

Path of the light from the clouds to the observer.

Even though it is one of the most common types of halo, the exact shape and orientation of the ice crystals responsible for the 22° halo are the topic of debate. Hexagonal, randomly oriented columns are usually put forward as the most likely candidate, but this explanation presents problems, such as the fact that the aerodynamic properties of such crystals leads them to be oriented horizontally rather than randomly. Alternative explanations include the involvement of clusters of bullet-shaped ice columns.

As light passes through the 60° apex angle of the hexagonal ice prisms, it is deflected twice, resulting in deviation angles ranging from 22° to 50°. Given the angle of incidence onto the hexagonal ice prism $i$ and the refractive index inside the prism $n$, then the angle of deviation $\theta$ can be derived from Snell's law:

$\theta =i+\sin ^{-1}\left[n\sin \left({\frac {\pi }{3}}-\sin ^{-1}{\frac {\sin i}{n}}\right)\right]-{\frac {\pi }{3}}.$

For $n$ = 1.309, the angle of minimum deviation is almost 22° (21.76°, when $i$ = 40.88°). More specifically, the angle of minimum deviation is 21.84° on average ($n$ = 1.31); 21.54° for red light ($n$ = 1.306) and 22.37° for blue light ($n$ = 1.317). This wavelength-dependent variation in refraction causes the inner edge of the circle to be reddish while the outer edge is bluish.

The ice crystals in the clouds all deviate the light similarly, but only the ones from the specific ring at 22 degrees contribute to the effect for an observer at a set distance. As no light is refracted at angles smaller than 22°, the sky is darker inside the halo.

Another phenomenon resulting in a ring around the Sun or Moon—and therefore sometimes confused with the 22° halo—is the corona. Unlike the 22° halo, however, it is produced by water droplets instead of ice crystals and it is much smaller and more colorful.

Weather relation

22° solar halo with very thin cirrostratus clouds.

In folklore, moon rings are said to warn of approaching storms. Like other ice halos, 22° halos appear when the sky is covered by thin cirrus or cirrostratus clouds that often come a few days before a large storm front. However, the same clouds can also occur without any associated weather change, making a 22° halo unreliable as a sign of bad weather.

22° solar halo with parhelia and lower tangent arc.

See also

• 46° halo
• Circumzenithal arc
• Circumhorizontal arc
• Sun dog
• Moon dog
• Moonbow