Shining rainbow rings around the sun photographed in Finland. What caused them?

By Harry Baker published about 14 hours ago

The extremely rare kaleidoscopic circles have a surprising Earth-based origin.



A pollen corona surrounds the partially-obscured sun in this photo taken May 30 in Turku, Finland. (Image credit: Mikko Peussa)

Something was in the air recently when a photographer in Finland snapped a stunning shot of concentric rainbow-colored rings around the sun. And it turns out that something was pollen.

Mikko Peussa captured the eye-catching images on May 30 near his home in Turku. The multicolored rings are called "pollen coronas" and are caused by sunlight scattering off pollen in the air, according to Spaceweather.com. The star-like sparkles that appear in and around the shining rings are individual pollen grains, which can vary in size.

The effect is created by sunlight scattering, or separating into its individual wavelengths, when it hits the pollen's surface. Some of the wavelengths interfere with or crash into one another, so only certain colors reach the observer, according to Universe Today. This is known as a diffraction pattern.



A pollen corona obscured by trees.(Image credit: Mikko Peussa)

The pollen in the images comes from pine trees (Pinus sylvestris). Under the microscope, these pollen grains look like tiny "Mickey Mouses." Their "ears" are actually a pair of air pockets that help the grains float in the wind. The air sacs align in the same direction in the wind, which helps to create the diffraction pattern and causes the rings to have a slightly elliptical shape, according to Spaceweather.com.

More:
https://www.space.com/shining-rainbow-rings-around-sun-photos