It's all done with...

Well, ice crystals actually, but more of that later.

My oldest daughter Cloe is recently back from ten days in the Caribbean, the Dominican Republic to be exact. From what she tells me she had a great time, swimming with dolphins, waterfall jumping, seeing strange lights in the sky.

Seeing strange lights in the sky?

Yes, but I’m not talking flying saucers, there are lots of strange sights to be seen in the sky that are completely natural and totally beautiful. We’ve all seen a rainbow, now what could be more beautiful than that? Answer, a double rainbow, I’ve even seen a triple rainbow, and what about that rainbow halo that you get around the moon sometimes on cold nights. I’ve seen rainbows around street lights and once I saw a rainbow fog about six feet above a field at Hell’s Mouth in Wales.

Of course you have to be looking and most of us don’t, and by not looking we miss such a lot. I’ve shown you what I see in the clouds but what about the other stuff that happens in the skies? What stuff? The really beautiful, spectacular stuff that’s available to us all absolutely free of charge. Of course you have to be in the right place at the right time to see it, but sometimes you yet lucky.

Cloe was, she was lucky enough to see a sun halo whilst she was in Dominican Republic, that’s the picture she took of it at the top of this post. Sun halos are rare, they are caused by ice crystals in the upper atmosphere and refraction, most optical phenomenon are, so not exactly mirrors but something close. Sun halos are sometimes accompanied by sun dogs… tell you what, how about I show you in pictures (they’re not mine but they are copyright free). Yes, I’ll do that, if you want to know more you can always go to Wikipedia, I did.

Don’t forget ‘look to the skies’, you never know what you may see and to prove it here’s a great video that Nicki C e-mailed me. PLEASE watch it - it is interesting and truly beautiful, and let me know what strange things you've seen in the sky... I'd be interested.

Just click on the link below:
Sky Clip.

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Things I have seen. Top left: triple rainbow – Top right: aurora borealis – Bottom left: circumhorizontal arc – Bottom right: lightening



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Things I would like to see. Top left: circumzenithial arc – Top right: light pillars – Bottom: sun halo with sun dogs

Oh, and by the way… for those of you who prefer Dolphins, here’s a picture of Cloe cuddling one in the Dominican Republic. Can life it get any better than that?