Artificial halos
Abstract
Judged by their frequency and beauty, ice halos easily rival rainbows as a prominent atmospheric optics phenomenon. This article presents experimental halo demonstrations of varying complexity. Using a single commercially available hexagonal glass prism, a variety of artificial halos can be simulated. The experiments include laser beam path analysis, a modified classic spinning prism experiment, and a novel Monte-Carlo machine for three-dimensional rotations. Each of these experiments emulates different conditions of certain halo displays, and in combination, they allow a thorough understanding of these striking phenomena.
- Publication:
-
American Journal of Physics
- Pub Date:
- September 2015
- DOI:
- 10.1119/1.4923458
- Bibcode:
- 2015AmJPh..83..751S