A Planetarium in Space
The picture shows a bright Sun halo shining over the BA Planetarium. Interestingly, at first glance, the circular Sun halo resembles a shadow or mirage of the spherical Planetarium.
Photo by Aymen Ibrahem, Senior Astronomy Specialist

On 1 January 2008, there were patterns of high clouds in the sky of Alexandria, Egypt. Due to the passage of sunlight through the tiny ice crystals contained in these clouds, a bright Sun halo encircled the rising Sun. BA Senior Astronomy Specialist, Aymen Ibrahem, took numerous interesting images of this Sun halo, with the Library building and the Planetarium as foreground objects.

Caution: Never look at the Sun directly with your eyes or through any optical aid. The Sun can be observed only through the proper scientific methods and equipment. Observe the Sun only under the supervision of an astronomy specialist.

The gleaming Sun halo resembled a mirage or shadow of the spherical Planetarium Theater.
“It was a wonderful morning,” said Ibrahem. “The Sun halo shone as a large, dazzling ring of light, centered on the Sun. Under this blazing sky, the picturesque BA Plaza was reminiscent of scenes of science fiction movies, depicting distant extrasolar planets.”

Sun halos often shine as arcs of a circle, but rarely they are observed as complete circles. The memorable halo display lasted several hours. Ibrahem named his series of photos “A Library in Space”. Some of his pictures are presented in the picture gallery below.

Picture Gallery

Fig (1)
Sun Halo and Aircraft contrails over the BA
The picture shows a Sun halo over the BA. Two aircraft contrails are visible as white streaks to the left of the Sun halo. The photo was taken with a wide-angle lens. The Sun disc is beyond the palm tree, which protected the camera’s chip from direct sunlight.
Photo by Aymen Ibrahem, Senior Astronomy Specialist

Fig (2)
Ring of the Sun
The picture shows a nearly complete Sun halo over the BA. Sun disc is beyond the palm tree.
Photo by Aymen Ibrahem, Senior Astronomy Specialist

Fig (3)
Sun Halo over the Planetarium
Photo by Aymen Ibrahem, Senior Astronomy Specialist

Fig (4)
Sun Halo and High Clouds
Photo by Aymen Ibrahem, Senior Astronomy Specialist

Fig (5)
Sun Halo and High Clouds over the Planetarium
Photo by Aymen Ibrahem, Senior Astronomy Specialist

Further Reading

A Ringed Star Wows Sky Observer
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Aymen Mohamed Ibrahem
Senior Astronomy Specialist