Ocean County sun halo
© Justin Louis
If you've been out and about enjoying this beautiful spring day in Ocean County and happened to look up, you may have noticed the distinct rings around the sun. So what are they? We wanted to find out!

While it's nice and warm here on the ground at the Jersey Shore, the upper atmosphere is pretty cold. Cold enough for there to be ice crystals up there.

On a day like today, the conditions are just right to refract the Sun's rays through the ice crystals, causing the halo effect. It's called a 22° halo, from the fact that the ring appears to be, "...within a radius of approximately 22° around the Sun".

It's actually pretty common, but on days like today, it's more obvious than others.