A netizen captured a photo of a sun halo one afternoon in Prosperidad, Agusan del Sur.
In Kuya Kim's report on "24 Oras" Thursday, Joan Iniego shared that it was her daycare student who first spotted the weather phenomenon.
"Napansin po 'yun ng daycare student ko na may kakaiba sa kalangitan so sabi niya 'Ma'am look at the the sun napakaganda may rainbow!'" shared Iniego. "So pag tingin ko napakaganda po talagang may rings then sa ilalim may rainbow."
While they initially thought it was a rainbow, state weather bureau PAGASA has explained that what they witnessed was actually a sun halo, also known as a 22-degree halo.
A sun halo happens when a ray of sunlight passes through ice crystals in high-altitude clouds like cirrus or cirrostratus clouds. The sunlight refracts and reflects, thus creating the rainbow halo seen around the sun.
"Merong ulap na nagtatakip dun sa araw, so 'yung sunlight, kapag tumama dun sa mga cirrus clouds meron tayong mga tiny ice crystals na pag tinamaan siya ng sunlight, nagbebend or nagrerefract 'yung sunlight na 'yun," said PAGASA weather specialist Benison Estareja.
"It lasts for a few seconds tapos minsan, a few minutes din," he added.
Citing PAGASA, Kuya Kim also shared the difference between a sun halo and a rainbow.
"Pareho mang resulta ng pag-refract ng liwanag ng araw at ice crystals ang rainbow at sun halo, ayon sa PAGASA, mas malaki daw ang mga bahaghari o rainbow kumpara sa sun halo. Semi-circle din ang nakikitang hugis ng mga ito at 'di full circle. Kadalasan din lumalabas ang mga bahagari pagkatapos ng ulan pero ang sun halo maaari mabuo kahi walang ulan," said Kuya Kim.
—CDC, GMA Integrated News