Atmospheric Optics, Halos, Sundogs & Arcs near Mount Baker | Earth Science

Atmospheric Optics, Halos, Sundogs & Arcs near Mount Baker | Earth Science

Photographer Jeremy Vohwinkle: "While on a hike near Mt. Baker, WA, the sky looked almost alien with the most intense halos and arcs around the sun I've seen before."

Solar halos are generally created by randomly oriented ice crystals in thin, high cirrus clouds. Circular halos like this one are visible much more often than rainbows. Sundogs are one of the most common types of ice halo. They occur when light rays enter the side of an ice crystal and leave through another side inclined about 60 degrees to the first. Sundogs are most easily seen when the Sun is low in the sky; the halos occurring on either side of it at about 22 degrees. Sundogs are visible all over the world and at any time of year, regardless of the temperature at the surface.

Mount Baker, also known as Koma Kulshan or simply Kulshan, is a 10,781-foot (3,286 m) active glacier-covered andesitic stratovolcano in the Cascade Volcanic Arc and the North Cascades of Washington State in the United States. Mount Baker has the second-most thermally active crater in the Cascade Range after Mount St. Helens.

Washington is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is often referred to as Washington state to distinguish it from the national capital. Both are named after George Washington, a U.S. Founding Father and the first U.S. president. Washington state borders the Pacific Ocean to the west, Oregon to the south, and Idaho to the east; it shares an international border with the Canadian province of British Columbia to the north.

Image Credit: Jeremy Vohwinkle
Location: North Cascades, Washington, USA
Date: June 25, 2026

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