'Dramatic' Halo Forms Around Sun

A halo was visible around the sun for much of New Jersey on Tuesday, including over Fairleigh Dickinson University's College at Florham.

FDU physics lecturer Dr. Michael Kalb said the atmospheric phenomenon happens frequently, but was very pronounced Tuesday.

Sun halos appear when you get "just the right concentration of ice crystals in the atmosphere" to refract light from the sun, creating the rainbow halo, Kalb said.

"It's dramatic," he said. "It catches people's imaginations."

It's similar to the effect that creates rainbows, and the same phenomenon happens with the moon.