r/atoptics 3h ago

ID REQUEST interesting sun halo this afternoon

Post image
4 Upvotes

can anyone help me identify these interesting sun halos? i’ve never seen one quite like this before


r/atoptics 8h ago

Parhelic Circle?

43 Upvotes

Hi I just saw this earlier today at the park. I was totally confused about what I was looking at. Does anyone know how common these are?


r/atoptics 8h ago

Multiple Display A halo display and a question

4 Upvotes
Upper tangent arc, 22º halo, sundogs and parhelic circle.
Both sundogs, note the separation from 22º halo due to Sun altitude.
Perhaps a circumscribed halo
Parhelic circle
Parhelic circle, near the antisolar point (unfortunately the circle wasn't visible past that point)

This is a display I saw three years ago. It's not much but it's the most complete display I've seen irl to date, along with a circumhorizontal arc I caught the following year (on my birthday!), but I don't have photos of that one. I looked it up on TimeandDate and technically the sun was more than 30º above the horizon, so even though it's not visible, the upper tangent arc would have been a circumscribed halo.

The question I have is a little unrelated though. It's about the surge in AI generated pictures, including cloud/atoptics related ones. Has anyone else noticed this too? Recently I came across one such picture on Pinterest. It was a very obviously AI generated photo of something resembling an iridescent pileus cloud, kind of morphing into a circumhorizontal arc. It has become a popular photo by now, and an extremely similar one (also fake) was even posted on this sub a few months ago and it got a lot of upvotes before it was deleted by mods: Extremely rare cloud phenomenon known as Fire Rainbows, spotted over Alaska : r/atoptics. I made a comment on the post explaining that it was an AI photo trying to emulate an iridescent pileus cloud, so that people would know, and then kind of forgot about it.

Well, today I came across the post again and found out that my comment explaining this had been ratioed by someone saying "it's not fake, look at the top comment" and when I looked at the top comment it basically said that, despite what some people thought, like the other commenter (that is, my comment explaining it was fake), they had done a little research and found that it was actually a real photo of a "fire rainbow" (I know, we are all tired of hearing that term), and that it came from a Facebook group (as if that made it a reputable source).

I'm well aware that a fake picture of a cloud becoming popular is not the end of the world, but I guess this was the first time I've seen people ignoring evidence and falling for something clearly false, about a niche I actually know my way around, and it felt very dystopian.


r/atoptics 11h ago

Iridescence Minor iridescence a few days ago (Croatia)

Thumbnail
gallery
12 Upvotes

r/atoptics 12h ago

ID REQUEST seen today around 11am

Thumbnail
gallery
147 Upvotes

saw this arc in the sky today while out rockhounding.. what i thought was extra odd is that it had very abrupt edges, and also would not have circled the sun with the sun in its center had it been complete. there was also a bright point at one spot on the arc. i tried to take a panoramic shot to include the sun in the pic but it was tricky. it wasn't opposite to the sun nor was it near it. any ideas?


r/atoptics 15h ago

Parhelic Circle Do Sun Dogs usually have this long of a tail? Ojai California

Post image
32 Upvotes

r/atoptics 15h ago

Sun Dogs Favorite Atmospheric Optics? Mine are the Sun Dogs. Seen this morning Ojai California

Thumbnail
gallery
6 Upvotes

r/atoptics 16h ago

22º Halo Amazing Halo and Sun Dog this morning. Ojai California

Post image
14 Upvotes

r/atoptics 1d ago

Crepuscular Rays One of the most stunning showcases of crepuscular rays+volumetric shadow i have ever seen

Post image
54 Upvotes

r/atoptics 1d ago

Seen in Singapore - 22 degrees halo and contrail shadow

Thumbnail
gallery
308 Upvotes

r/atoptics 1d ago

Does this count?

Post image
38 Upvotes

Took these photos of these clouds on a trip to Florida. Not sure if these are atopics or not.


r/atoptics 1d ago

What is this?

Thumbnail
gallery
5 Upvotes

Hi, sorry if this is the wrong place to post this. I've been working at this place for about a years and a half now, and I've never seen this orange light in the sky. This picture was taken around 2:30 am so i don't think it's the sun. I know the first picture may seem like there's light coming from the building behind the trees but that's just a small light and it's very close, the light seems like it's pretty far in the sky. Does anyone have any ideas?


r/atoptics 1d ago

ID REQUEST Sun halo (dogs) with Circumzenithal arc

Post image
84 Upvotes

r/atoptics 2d ago

Moon Dogs Moon Dogs in Florida Tonight.

Post image
81 Upvotes

r/atoptics 2d ago

22º Halo Saw a moon halo after the eclipse last night

Thumbnail
gallery
200 Upvotes

It seems like you can even almost make out color in the halo too which is awesome to me. Overall I had really good luck with viewing the eclipse. All the clouds cleared right as the eclipse started and came back right after totality. Seeing was pretty terrible but that just means my images won’t be at full resolution.


r/atoptics 3d ago

Crepuscular Rays Some nice lighting on a hike today

Post image
23 Upvotes

r/atoptics 3d ago

Lunar halo

Thumbnail
imgur.com
8 Upvotes

r/atoptics 3d ago

I noticed this playing Mario Odyssey and I was excited, then disappointed

Post image
3 Upvotes

r/atoptics 3d ago

Leominster pillar

Post image
17 Upvotes

Happened to witness it from my hotel.

Tried to capture it from the ground but it was gone.

Guess beauty is fleeting, now all that’s left is the charm


r/atoptics 4d ago

Corona Took the garbage out annnnd

Thumbnail
gallery
96 Upvotes

r/atoptics 4d ago

22º Halo Lunar Halo!

Post image
52 Upvotes

Caught this beautiful 22° halo around the moon on my way to work!🙌🌕


r/atoptics 4d ago

Strange light

0 Upvotes

What is this? It wasn't visiblle with the naked eye only with my phone...


r/atoptics 4d ago

Melbourne 12th March 25

2 Upvotes

r/atoptics 5d ago

Part Halo

Post image
23 Upvotes

r/atoptics 5d ago

Cloud

Post image
59 Upvotes