KL Report
SRINAGAR
Scores of people in Kashmir Valley were mused rather some were panicked after spotting a circular halo around the Sun on Friday afternoon. Some people took it as solar eclipse but were questioning why the MeT department did not inform the general public about the occurrence of solar eclipse.
Director MeT, Sonam Lotus said that when ring is formed around the sun, it is called Sun halo which is a common phenomenon during pre-monsoon season in India. “It has nothing to do with the rainfall and there is nothing to panic,” he said.
Giving details about the Sun halo, senior scientist Positional Astronomy Centre, Indian Meteorological Department, Kolkatta, Dr A.K.Sen said that Sun halo is also called 22 degree halo and the ring is caused by sunlight passing through ice crystals in cirrus clouds within the earth’s atmosphere.
“The sun halo is not limited to a certain season and can happen anytime, anywhere, depending on the viewer’s vantage point and the sun’s position. Halos around the sun and the moon have been recorded as far back as the time of Emperor Constantine at the beginning of the fourth century,” he said adding that there is nothing to panic and it has nothing to do with the occurrence of rain or precipitation. (CNS)
