I took this startling photo a few years ago, flying over the Yorkshire Wolds. It is not a halo, as people often describe it, but strictly speaking it is a 'glory'.
Exercise for the reader: Why is the circle centred on the basket of the balloon not on the centre of the balloon itself?
2 comments:
I should clarify a point. The balloon shape is the shadow of the balloon on thin cloud below. The rainbow-like 'glory' is caused by the refraction of light in the water droplets in that cloud. The centre of the glory is at exactly the location of the shadow of my head. In fact, it may be a surprising fact that the glory was my own. I saw was slightly different from the one seen by the other people in the balloon because my eyes (and camera) were in a different place to theirs. The same applies to rainbows. Everyone gets their own rainbow!
I remember seeing one of these when I was on a plane several years ago...always wondered what it was called... :)
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