#Solar #Flares
6-hr max: M1 1226 UT May31
24-hr: M1 0438 UT May31

#POLLEN #CORONAS: Something in the air is making the sun over #Finland look unusual. "It's pollen," says Mikko Peussa, who photographed the phenomenon on May 30th from the city of Turku near the Baltic Sea:

The air is sparkling and the sun is surrounded by pastel rings. These are called "pollen coronas," caused by sunlight scattered from swarms of pollen in the air. The "sparkles" in Peussa's photo are some of the individual grains.

"The pollen is coming from pine trees in the area," says Peussa. Springtime cones are opening, spreading pollen so that pines can reproduce. Individual grains are very tiny, with optical properties that produce compact, intensely colored pastel rings.