Saturday, June 17, 2017

HEILIGENSCHEIN Taken by Peter Lowenstein on June 16, 2017 @ Mutare, Zimbabwe






Two hours after sunrise this morning (16 June) there was heavy dew on the grass in my garden and as I stood on the front patio of my house with the rising sun directly behind me, I was surprised to see the shadow of my head and shoulders projected on to the lawn had a spectacular bright halo around it. Not being a Saint, I realized that there must be some interesting optics at work so I took the accompanying photographs with a Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ60 compact camera in intelligent auto mode. A subsequent internet search for information on halos and effects produced by the sun and water droplets has located an explanation on Les Cowley’s website at http://www.atoptics.co.uk/droplets/heilfrm.htm It would appear that conditions, with the sun still at a low angle and dew on the grass at the antisolar point, were just right for Heiligenshine to appear.

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