At https://spaceweather.com [May 29th 2023] … J Cobain of Northern Ireland saw some interesting transient phenomena around the Sun – and quickly started clicking away with his camera. The Sun was surrounded by a lace like network of halos and arcs. There was a complete parhelic circle, a circumscribed halo, supralateral arc, a 22 degree halo, a pair of sun dogs, and what looked like a Wegener arc – all at the same time. What caused it? Ice crystals. Freezing cold cirrus clouds drifted in front of the Sun, catching its rays and leading them into exotic forms.
Complex halos, such as these, require not just one type of ice crystal, but many of them – with gem like perfection, and unusually precise crystal to crystal alignment. Clouds that contain such an ensemble of ice crystals, we are told, are very rare. How auspicious is that?
The Sun remains active, we may note, with another big sun spot forming. The sun spot has a ‘beta gamma delta‘ magnetic field. It harbours a lot of energy for a strong exxplosion – and it is almost directly facing the earth. Updates on May 30th and 31st worth watching.