SINGAPORE - If you happened to lift your gaze to the skies around midday on March 15, you may have spotted a bright ring of light around the sun.
Known as a sun halo, photos of the rare sighting quickly made their way across social media and messaging platforms after it was first spotted around 11am.
These photos were taken by people at locations across the island, from Chinese Garden to Woodlands, Serangoon Gardens and Bedok, between 11am and around 3pm.
They included Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong, who took to Facebook to share a photo of the optical phenomenon at about 2.40pm.
“A rare and spectacular sight in the skies above! I am told that this phenomenon is known as a 22 degree halo or a sun halo,” said SM Lee.
A sun halo forms when sunlight interacts with ice crystals in the atmosphere. These crystals are from thin clouds so high in the sky that they are made of ice rather than water droplets.
The crystals act as tiny prisms, reflecting and refracting light in such a way that a ring is seen around the sun.
cwhalo15 - Tampines Credit: ST Reader
A sun halo spotted in Tampines on March 15.PHOTO: ST READER
According to the National Environment Agency (NEA), this is not a common sight in Singapore as sun halos tend to be covered by low to mid-level clouds.
NEA had previously said that it is difficult to forecast the precise location of these ice crystals in the atmosphere, which would determine where the halo can be sighted.
cwhalo15 - Woodlands, around 12.50pm Credit: ST Reader
A sun halo spotted in Woodlands on March 15.PHOTO: ST READER
While it is safe to look at the halo itself with the naked eye, the agency added that it would be dangerous to look at the sun directly without proper protection.
Sun halos were last spotted in Singapore on Sept 22, 2020, and June 3, 2017.
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