EIGHT SUNS.

Putaruru Press, Volume VI, Issue 225, 23 February 1928, Page 3

EIGHT SUNS.

LIGHT PHENOMENON AT STOCKHOLM.

Eight suns were visible in the archipelago of Stockholm on the mornself four suns could be seen simultaneously on the horizon at 7.30 in the morning, encircled by a clearly defined rainbow.

ing of October 23rd, and in the city itShortly after sunrise, while the sun was still low on the horizon, and slightly veiled by a thin mist, around the sun at a radius of about 30 degrees a narrow ring with a rose coloured inner edge was seen to form a half-circle. In this ring three points were especially prominent, two on a line with the sun to the east and west of it, and the third at the zenith of the half-circle. These bright points shortly developed to veritable bi-suns which shone with intense light Near these suns, the ring was strongly coloured with all the colours of the rainbow. The two bi-suns in a line with the sun, were not circular in form but drawn out so as to resemble two comets with long tails away from the sun. At the zenith of the rainbow coloured circle a bright horseshoeformed bow lay convex to the sun. Where this bow made contact with the circle, the third, bright, stronglycoloured bi-sun shone.

Furthermore, quite outside the original ring, at twice the distance from the sun, a second ring was seen, though intermittent in its entirety. This ring was also red at the inner edge. It even had a bow convex to the sun tangent at its zenith, broad and in the form of a segment of a circle in strong colours. This wonderful coloured rainbow high up in the firmament especially drew the attention of spectators. An inner ring around the sun at about 22 degrees is not so unusual in Norrland, the bi-suns, however, are seldom so bright as those just seen in Stockholm. But the outer coloured ring and its complement, the bow touching its zenith are rarely seen. The horizontal bi-suns at the east and west with comet-like form and brightly shining are also very rare. This sun halo phenomenon reminds us most nearly of the “Roman Lights” recorded by Father Scheiner in Rome in 1630, the oldest of the three famous examples of similar appearances. On this occasion no less than seven suns were visible. With the Roman phenomenon may be mentioned the remarkable halo pictures in Danzig, 1661, and the fairy tale like display of Petersburg in 1794.

There are also well-known examples of a similar sort from Stockholm’s horizon painted on the so-cal.cd “vadersol” (weather vane) pictured in the Stockholm “Storkyrkian” which according to the inscription, dated from 1535, but in reality occurred in 1592. To judge from the painting, however, the recent phenomenon in Stockholm was of a mor eexceptional character, as it entirely corresponded with the pattern of its classic antecedent.