Decoding the “mystery” in the skies of Vietnam

In recent years, we still see interesting natural phenomena appearing in the skies of Vietnam. And there are many associations around these images, which are the aura on the statues of Buddha, the “dragons” and the “phoenixes” in the clouds, the flying objects forming a halo …

In the days of 15,18 / 9/2008 and 18/4/2010, in Da Nang appeared the phenomenon of the sun radiating a strange aura, forming a halo around it.

Many photos of this phenomenon at Quan The Am Buddha Statue, Linh Ung Pagoda, Da Nang have been posted online. The “halo” phenomenon has stirred public opinion, even giving rise to superstitious rumors.

A similar phenomenon occurred in Vung Tau on October 7, 2009, in front of thousands of people.

According to Mr. Le Huy Minh, deputy director of the Institute of Geophysics, this is a very rare natural phenomenon in Vietnam and rarely observed. This phenomenon is often referred to as the “halo”.

The halo phenomenon usually occurs during the day (solar halo) or at night (moon halo) in summer and fall each year. The nature of the solar halo and the lunar halo is similar.

This phenomenon is created when sunlight or moon light passing through ice crystals is refracted or reflected to produce circles. Usually solar halo has 7 brilliant colors due to light scattering while lunar halo is only white due to low light.

According to popular experience, the appearance of a halo is a sign of a prolonged period without rain, which can cause water shortages and droughts in the locality.

Cloud scale dragon

After a rain in the afternoon of August 20, 2009, an interesting phenomenon appeared in the sky of Hanoi: the layer of clouds in the form of dragon scales. This phenomenon takes place around 6 p.m., for 40 minutes after the rain.

Facing the astonishing scene above, many people think of the event of King Ly Thai To’s departure from the capital in 1010. According to the story, the king saw the dragon fly over Dai La so he changed his name in Thang Long, the sutra the new capital of Dai Viet.

Mr. Tran Van Sap, Deputy Director of the National Weather Forecast Center, said: “The above phenomenon is nothing special and is not related to major weather developments. The clouds are very low, this phenomenon can therefore be considered rare “.

Mr. Sap claimed that these clouds were mammatus clouds, or literally “chest clouds”. In Vietnam, it is called “dragon scales”.

Mammatus is a meteorological term applied to the phenomenon of cloud chambers suspended in thick layers under another cloud. It is a normal meteorological phenomenon. There is a description of the mammatus rattan in the International Rattan Catalog. At the same time, in Vietnam repeatedly recorded the appearance of clouds of this type.

According to Peter Gibbs, a BBC meteorologist, the first condition that forms mammatus clouds is a thunderstorm accompanied by heavy rain and lightning. However, these mammatus clouds are harmless because their appearance usually occurs when the worst periods of thunderstorms pass.

Phoenix clouds (five color clouds)

On the afternoon of September 7, 2010, a strange cloud appeared in the sweltering heat of Hanoi weather. The shape of the cloud is nothing out of the ordinary, but above the cloud there are streaks like oil spills with 7 brilliant rainbow colors.

Strange clouds surprised many people in Hanoi and stirred up rumors. Some people believe that the clouds are in the shape of a baby, others say that the clouds are like the wings of a phoenix. Some even think that it is a good omen for the great celebration of the 1000 years of Thang Long.

According to Le Ngoc Linh, an amateur astronomer in Hanoi, this “strange cloud” phenomenon is the five-color cloud. This is a normal optical phenomenon, although quite rare in nature. In ancient times, according to popular belief, the phenomenon of five-colored clouds appeared as a harbinger of Quoc Thai Dan An. Those who see the five colored clouds will be very lucky.

Nowadays, science explains that clouds of five colors are created by diffraction. When lit by the sun, small water droplets or ice crystals in clouds diffuse white light, while large ice crystals form a rainbow-colored halo.

The phenomenon of five-color clouds is similar to that of a rainbow. However, the rainbow needs rain and sun, and the five-color cloud just needs the right angle between the clouds and the sun to be able to see.

UFO shines in the sky in Hanoi

On October 28, 2010, from 5 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Mr. Nguyen Xuan Vu (Hanoi) captured the image of a flying object forming a trail of light in the sky as an object burnt during a flight from the ‘space. atmosphere of the earth.

However, in response to the press, Mr. Nguyen Duc Phuong of the Astronomical Society of Vietnam claimed that the above “strange object” is a civilian aircraft.

According to Mr. Phuong, because the time is around 5 p.m. at the beginning of winter (it gets dark quickly), only high places can continue to receive sunlight, while low places like below above The land is hardly sunny. Passenger planes typically fly at an altitude of around 10 km, the vapor generated by the plane continues to receive sunlight, dispersing and reflecting so that we can see very clearly, especially at sunset.

According to Mr. Phuong, if the plane flies at noon, it will leave a white trail like clouds. At dusk or dawn, the eyes will usually see yellow or orange.

Air trails are released from the engine part (no smoke). This flow of vapor has a higher temperature than its surroundings because planes typically fly at an altitude of around 8 to 13 km, where the temperature can drop to minus 55 degrees Celsius. “A hotter stream will crystallize, freeze and Depending on the inertia of the moving aircraft, this will create a sequence,” Mr. Phuong said.

Day turns to night

At 9 am on 3/4/2014, the people of Hon Gai area, Ha Long Town (Quang Ninh) have to turn on the lights to live and work due to the gloomy dark sky. This phenomenon has also been recorded in many other northern provinces. The cause was determined to be due to a large thunderstorm and dense dark clouds that covered the sun.

Rainbow “twins”

Rainbow is the scattering of sunlight when interacting with water particles in the air. When light is both reflected and refracted through a water particle, it splits into colors in the order of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and purple. The most common is the simple rainbow, while the “twin” rainbow is very rare.

According to international scientists, the mystery of this rainbow lies in the combination of water droplets of different sizes. Sometimes two showers occur at the same time, the raindrops will be different sizes and create a slightly distorted rainbow. These rainbows combine to form a twin rainbow. Photo provided by readers Do Duy Truong.