What does a rainbow ring around the sun mean?

Question

Today I saw a rainbow in a perfect ring around the sun. The weather was 85 degrees and a little cloudy. It was the most amazing thing. Does anyone have any idea what causes this to happen or what it means?

Answer 1

You know how you see a rainbow when its really humid, or when it rains and there is sun? Thats what you saw, you saw a rainbow, but not a half rainbow, but rather a whole rainbow around the sun. A ring rainbow, this is due because of the high humidity that is in the air, its the same as a rainbow, just around the sun.

Answer 2

Rainbow Ring Around The Sun

Answer 3

Rainbow Around The Sun

Answer 4

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RE:
What does a rainbow ring around the sun mean?
Today I saw a rainbow in a perfect ring around the sun. The weather was 85 degrees and a little cloudy. It was the most amazing thing. Does anyone have any idea what causes this to happen or what it means?

Answer 5

Yes. It is called a corona. Coronas form when the sunlight pass through water droplets. Blue is usually the inner ring, and red the outer. The other colors might be visible in bright coronas. Also, you might see several rings farther away from the sun.
In your case, the perfect rainbow says the cloud is newly formed. This is because the water droplets are uniformed.
If a cloud only has part of the corona, because it doesn't cover all the area around the moon or sun, two things may happen. An iridescence may form, or you can still tell a cloud is newly formed. An iridescence is really an imperfect corona. You might see this as a colorful cloud, or a cloud with color. If you block out the sun by a cloud, you might be able to see the edges of the cloud with color. BUT DO NOT BLIND YOU SELF!!! DO NOT LOOK AT THE SUN DIRECTLY!

Answer 6

The northern lights, or aurora borealis, as it is called in the Northern Hemisphere (aurora australis in the Southern Hemisphere) is a glow of green, yellow, red or even blue light that looks a little like bright curtains waving in the breeze. You might see little points of light like a million fireflies dancing in the sky. Usually, only people who live very far north or south of the equator see this display, but often people as even in the southern United States can see it.

An aurora happens when particles from the sun cause the earth’s upper atmosphere to act like a big neon sign. Let me explain. In a neon sign, an electric current runs through a wire into a glass tube filled with gas to make different colors of light. The color depends on the kind of gas . The same thing can happen high above the earth. Electrically charged particles speeding away from the sun (called the “solar wind”) are captured by earth’s magnetic field and collide with atmospheric gases. Different gases give off different colored light. Since the earth’s magnetic field directs the charged particles toward the north and south poles, the colors are usually most vivid there.

But sometimes the sun can release big bursts of energy. When these huge concentrations of charged particles reach earth, auroras can be visible much farther away from the poles.

Answer 7

6/13/2015 I saw ring around the sun while swimming in a pool 30 miles north of Houston. I ve never seen anything like that before. Now I know what it was. I did know to not look directly in the sun.

Answer 8

A thin veil of cirrostratus clouds will cause a ring around the sun.

Answer 9

The last poster was correct in saying that cirrostratus clouds usually cause this effect. Cirrostratus clouds are made mostly of ice crystals. These crystals form in different configurations depending on temperature. Certain arrangements act in the same way as prisms.
Cirrostratus clouds are mostly associated with the approaching of a warm front.

Answer 10

I also saw it in California today March 20 2014 at 11:45 am It was strange looking but kind of cool.