UTA & HALO

[Steveo74]

Hi all, Over the weekend I got a few shots of an UTA for the first time and on Sunday morning 22 degree Halo.

Anyhow here you go.

UTA








Halo






And a few of Sunrise








 

[rjgjr]

Very impressive images Steven. The diamond ring effect is very distinct. The jet contrail slicing through the halo really adds character to the image, and the #3 sunrise is my favorite! Thanks for sharing.

[JohnC]

Wonderful photos.

[jgs001]

Very good Steven... What's a UTA ?

[Steveo74]

Thanks for the comments guys..

John, UTA stands for:
An upper tangent arc is a halo, an atmospheric optical phenomenon which appears over and tangent to the 22° halo around the sun.

The shape of an upper tangent arc varies with the elevation of the sun; while the sun is low (less than 29–32°) it appears as an arc over the sun forming a sharp angle. As the sun rises, the curved wings of the arc lower towards the 22° halo while gradually becoming longer. As the sun rises over 29–32°, the upper tangent arc unites with the lower tangent arc to form the circumscribed halo.

Both the upper and lower tangent arc form when hexagonal rod-shaped ice crystals in cirrus clouds have their long axis oriented horizontally, while otherwise rotated in any direction. This orientation of the crystals also produces other halos, including 22° halos and sun dogs, but a predominant horizontal orientation is required to produce a crisp upper tangent arc. Like many other halos, upper tangent arcs grade from a red inner edge to a blue outer edge because red light is refracted more strongly than blue light(Info from Wiki)
Hope this helps..

[martinastro]

Stunning images Steven!. That wide angle lens really does justice to those optical phenomena. I love the halo shots...gorgeous. I seen that UTA from here also, it was one of the best I've ever seen with 'horns' on top, very bright, and it actually turned pink as the Sun set. I have never seen a pink UTA before in my life, John seen it also. We suspect the pink colour may have been a product of small concentrations of volcanic dust in the atmosphere...just a theory.  . Thanks for sharing the images.

[jgs001]

Thanks for the info Steven

[Roman White]

Steven, I had somehow missed this topic.
Great images! I wish to see such bright UTA with my own eyes 

[Steveo74]

THanks Roman, That was the 1st time for me to see such a thing.... Hope I see more...