Posted on 12/21/2022 1:09:01 PM PST by MtnClimber
Explanation: Happy Solstice! Today is the December solstice, marking an astronomical beginning of summer in the southern hemisphere and winter in the north. On its yearly trek through planet Earth's skies, at this solstice the Sun reaches its southern most declination, 23.5 degrees south, at 21:48 UTC. About 4 days ago the Sun was near this seasonal southern limit and so only just above the horizon at local noon from Ostersund in central Sweden. This view looking over the far northern lakeside city finds the midday Sun with a beautiful solar ice halo. Naturally occurring atmospheric ice crystals can produce the tantalizing halo displays, refracting and reflecting the sunlight through their hexagonal geometry. Still, with the Sun low and near the horizon in the clear sky, likely sources of the ice crystals producing this intense halo are snow cannons. Operating at a local ski area, the snowmaking machines create a visible plume at the top of the nearby island Froson toward the right side of the panorama.
For more detail go to the link and click on the image for a high definition image. You can then move the magnifying glass cursor then click to zoom in and click again to zoom out. When zoomed in you can scan by moving the side bars on the bottom and right side of the image.
Looks like Florida!......................
Like North Florida. Central Florida has beach chairs on sandy beaches and umbrella drinks served by bikini clad waitresses. Don't confuse the white sand in central Florida for the snow in North Florida :)
We are supposed to be in the Mid-20’s on Christmas Day!.............
Correction:
LOW 20’s now!
https://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?lat=30.452778300000034&lon=-86.64281659999995
I left my snow shovels in Colorado or I would ship one to you.
Jan 2 2020 drove up 95 thru Jax it is a hairy drive on the best of days, then it was snow.
a sundog
These threads are supposed to be about astronomical images, yet APOD is constantly picking images of earth. Has everyone not seen an earth sunset or sunrise? I find this a bit odd.
Atmospheric phenomena are cool, we have to look through it to see stars and the Sun and Moon, so knowing about what our atmosphere is doing helps us to plan observing sessions- “is it going to be a good night, or is the air going to hamper the ‘seeing’ in any way”.
Besides that, they’re just plain neat. Here’s a site for you to check out-
Pretty much what it looks like in Fairbanks. May be a little high. Glad we are turning around after today!
If I want terrestrial sunset images I generally go to National Geographic or Arizona Highways. I’m a bit biased anyway. The atmosphere can turn a pretty decent deep space image into a dumpster fire. It’s a love hate thing.☺
Growing up in Northern Minnesota we would see similar patterns just after sunrise. We called the wider spots in the sides of the halo “Sun Dogs”.
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