At some point on Wednesday many of you would’ve gotten a message to go outside and look up at the sky...and no it wasn’t a bird...or a plane...or even Superman.
Citizens across Trinidad and Tobago were treated to this fascinating phenomenon.
A bright, rainbow coloured ring around the sun was first spotted around 11.30 am.
Word spread quickly and soon enough scores of people were posting photos of the event on social media.
This occurrence is called a “halo” and scientists call them 22-degree halos. Why? Because the ring has a radius of approximately 22 degrees around the sun.
Halos are a sign of high, thin cirrus clouds drifting 20,000 feet or more above our heads.
They belong to the family of ice crystal halos and are formed as the sun—or moonlight is refracted in millions of hexagonal ice crystals suspended in the atmosphere.
Before modern day meteorology was invented, sun halos were used to forecast rain, as the cirrus cloud with which they are associated, can signify an approaching frontal system.
If true, this would bring much needed relief to the drought-like conditions being experienced.