This animation shows the rising sun through thin clouds causes diffraction rings to appear. The pink clouds caused the diffraction rings. Then the exposure was reduced and constant after the sun rose.

Notice, once the sun rises above the cloud layer, the ring magically transforms into dramatic spikes. The rings are atmospheric effects, while the spikes are due to optical effects within the camera.

• Photographer: Tom Ruen
• Location: New Brighton, Minnesota
  • Latitude 45.0575 N, Longitude 93.2278 W, Elevation 311 meters
• Date: June 9, 2003 sunrise
• Time: 5:22:29 to 5:43:03 CDT (~15 second steps)
• Equipment: Digital camera on a tripod, 3x zoom.
• Exposures:
  • Start: 1/100s, F2.8
  • End: 1/1000s, F11.0 (Fastest)