04.12.2016 - Wadi Rum, Jordan

Already on the evening before and in the morning hours of 04.12.2016, fragments of the 22° ring and both sundogs were visible at times in patchy cirrus clouds. The cirrus clouds increased during the morning and were spread across the sky by around 9:30 CET. A brief stop at the roadside now revealed the full extent of halo phenomena. Initially, the focus was on the sun, which was surrounded by a strong 22° ring, both sundogs, the upper tangent arc, and a complete, colorful parry arc. The circumzenithal arc was faintly visible. In the cirrus clouds that continued to spread, initially fragments and later an almost completely closed horizontal circle could be admired. This was so brightly illuminated that even a reddish-brown upper edge could be discerned in some areas. In the area of the 120° sundogs, the corresponding clear thickenings were also found. The highlight of this halo phenomenon was Tricker's anthelic arc, which was visible for about 5 minutes as a distinct, inverted "V" at the anti-solar point below the horizontal circle. The anthelion could be spotted where the "V" converged sharply. The cirrus clouds quickly thickened, causing most halo types to fade rapidly. Only the 22° ring persisted for several hours until it too disappeared in the afternoon.