Shown above is a glorious 22 degree solar halo observed over a spring meadow near Famões , Portugal (just north of Lisbon). Halos such as this form when sunlight is refracted by hexagonal ice crystals that compose cirrus clouds . Sunlight enters one of the crystal's side faces and exits through an alternate face at a 22 degree angle. If the crystals are smaller than about 0.025 mm in diameter, they tend to be randomly oriented and thus produce a ring of light around the solar disk. Make sure to protect your eyes when looking anywhere near the Sun . Photo taken on April 23, 2015.