The phenomenon is definitely called the «solar halo»
A rare natural phenomenon — a white «rainbow» was photographed on Lake Baikal by the photographer of the Podlemorie reserve Alexey Svatov.
Photo: Alexey Svatov
The Ushkany Islands, which are located in the middle of Lake Baikal, attract photographers because they can take good photos of the Baikal seals — the only freshwater seal species in the world. However, according to Svatov, he was not lucky with the seals on the day of filming — they were not visible because of the thick fog, but he was lucky with the white “rainbow”.
“You cook dinner, raise your eyes, wait for habit impenetrable fog, and there is such a miracle! – wrote Alex in the social network. — A white rainbow can be seen if the water particles in the fog are less than 25 microns in diameter. A little larger, and we already see the usual, familiar color rainbow.
As explained to MK at the Institute of Atmospheric Physics of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the phenomenon that the photographer captured is more likely called the solar halo. In this photo, it appeared before the Sun itself and seemed to be drowned in an abundance of water vapor. The halo differs from the rainbow by a different angle of light deflection by drops.