A Mountain Halo (Glory)

Refraction Halo. Mt. Bierstadt, Colorado, 2014

When the sun is 180 degrees out from thin clouds (water droplets), you’ll get this effect–that is, when you happen to be exactly in between the sun and cloud. On a mountain summit or level ground, this would typically be near sunrise or sunset. If you are on a steep slope, it could occur at any other time of day as long as you get that perfect alignment.

The term for this phenomena is “glory”, believe it or not. For a scientific explanation and some more example images, see the Wiki entry for “Glory”.

What a bizarre way to get a selfie, eh? The above was the best of many attempts to capture the effect in rapidly changing conditions. (And…the silhouette in the halo was NOT Photoshopped!)