Rainbow Around the Sun

I just experienced magic. Not bunnies pulled out of hats or a Harry Potter book, but actual magic created by our dear Mother Nature. This magic was in the form of a perfect circular rainbow around the sun. I was literally tidying up my bedroom when my phone called me over with a new message. It was my friend who had just seen it out of an aeroplane window and the message read: "Look at the rainbow around the sun!!" At first I thought it was another one of her crazy jokes where she wanted everyone to act like gullable idiots and run outside to see a fictional phenomenon, but I thought I'd check it out - just in case!

There it was and my first instinct (as always) was to grab my camera! My second instinct was to forward the message and here's my third: to share it with you...

NASA says: It's called the "22degree Halo." Scientifically, it's made up of ice crystals and is a sign of coming rains.

In ancient Greece, it was called a "parhelia" which literally means "beside the sun." In Tibetan culture, a ring around the sun is seen as an omen of the birth or death of a great teacher.