Residents of Bohol town awed by rare sight in the sky

Some residents in Ubay, Bohol witnessed a “sun halo” just before noon on Tuesday, August 3. (Leo Udtohan/Inquirer Visayas)

TAGBILARAN CITY—Residents of Ubay town in Bohol were awed to see a rare sight in the sky on Tuesday noon, Aug. 3.

Delia Cutamora, 55, a resident of Barangay Casate, said she was mesmerized by the striking rainbow ring around the sun.

She, however, was not completely happy.

Cutamora said her grandmother told her that a sun halo is a sign of bad things to come.

“It is a sign of bad omen. Most of the time, it tells about the coming of a typhoon and other disasters,” the grandmother said in Boholano.

“We are still in this pandemic. I hope no new disaster will come,” she added while making a sign of the cross.

Earthsky.org said a sun halo is a large ring or circle of light around the sun or moon formed due to high clouds.

High cirrus clouds, which develop at 20,000 feet, are composed of ice crystals.

Halos are usually seen when six-sided ice crystals have a random orientation. Sunlight is dispersed through the ice crystals, and the light is refracted, creating the image of a halo.

Halos can also be seen around the moon if conditions are right.

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