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I was able to capture this spectacular solar halo in Gavà, in the Baix Llobregat, for Las Fotos de los Lectores de La Vanguardia, an announcement of the long-awaited weather change. Or, at least, that's what the popular saying tells us.
As has been passed down from generation to generation, if we observe the formation of a solar halo, that means that rain is coming. On the other hand, if at night we contemplate a halo of moon, the weather will rather be dry.
Let's look at some examples: "Cerco de luna never swells lagoon; cerco de sol, moja pastor," says a saying. We not only find examples of this in Spanish, but in other languages present in the Iberian Peninsula. In Catalan, for example, the following is said: "Si la lluna porta galdufa, de cada cent voltes, ne plou una / i, si en porta el sol, de cada cent, noranta-nou."
In Galician, "circo na lúa, lagoa (braña) dura; circo no sol, lagoa mol." Or in Asturian, "near the moon the lake does not swell; the sun surrounds the shepherd." And, thus, even a good sample of proverbs in which, curiously, shepherds tend to be protagonists, as a result of the importance of meteorology in rural areas.
The solar halo forms around the sun, presenting an iridescent ring on its outer circumference, due to ice crystals when there are high clouds.
The halo is caused by ice particles suspended in the troposphere that refract light, generating a spectrum of colors around the Moon or Sun.
It is an optical effect in the shape of a disk around the Sun—or the Moon—and has an iridescent ring on its outer circumference.
