Stunning solar halo appears over S’pore, netizens share dazzling photos & videos

Netizens flood social media with images as solar halo seen over Singapore skies

Singaporeans looking up on Monday (25 Aug) were treated to a breathtaking sight: a glowing solar halo encircling the sun.

The stunning spectacle quickly became the talk of the town, with netizens flooding social media with photos and videos of the dazzling ring of light.

Even Gardens by the Bay joined in, posting gorgeous shots of the halo perfectly framed behind its iconic Supertrees.

Netizens stunned by ‘rainbow ring’ around the sun

Among those who witnessed the phenomenon was 44-year-old Chris Hui.

He told MS News he spotted the halo while walking back to his office in Tanjong Pagar after lunch.

“I was pleasantly surprised and excited,” said Mr Hui, who works in finance.

While this wasn’t his first time seeing such a halo, he noted the last time had been many years ago.

For 33-year-old Ad, a creative professional, it was a brand-new experience.

Her colleagues pointed it out while they were out buying lunch, and her initial reaction was sheer amazement as she tried to make sense of what she was seeing.

“At first we saw half of it and wondered if it formed a whole circle. We then moved to an open spot and saw the full thing,” she recalled.

Ad managed to capture the entire halo on her phone using a 0.5x wide-angle lens.

“It was too bright to see what I was shooting, so I just kept snapping and was lucky to get the whole circle,” she said.

Over at the National University Centre for Oral Health Singapore, 37-year-old Claris Ortega rushed to her office garden after a colleague’s helper told them to “look at the sun”.

“We were greeted by the biggest and most beautiful sun halo ever,” she told MS News.

It was her first time seeing one in person, and she managed to take photos of the halo with her phone while standing in the shade.

Solar halos not that uncommon

The United States (US) National Weather Service explains that a halo is a ring of light that forms around the sun or moon when their light refracts off ice crystals found in thin cirrus clouds.

The halo usually appears as a bright white circle, though it can sometimes display faint colours — as it did in Singapore today.

Instagram user @justkeepthinkingsg also broke it down in simpler terms on her account, helping followers understand the phenomenon more easily.

While halos aren’t extremely rare, the atmospheric conditions have to align perfectly for one to appear, which is why Singaporeans never fail to get excited whenever it graces the skies.

Also read: Stunning sun halo appears over S’pore sky, first sighting in nearly five years

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Featured image courtesy of MS News reader Chris Hui and adapted from @gardensbythebay on Instagram.