Overcast skies this morning gave way to mostly clear skies by noon. As the day went on, some clouds moved through, including a layer of what I think was altostratus clouds seen in these photos. It was not a thick layer of clouds, and they were too bright to look at directly in the neighborhood of the sun even when the sun was blocked out. I was wearing a pair of sunglasses to make it easier on my eyes while I was reading papers outside and I happened to glance up and notice the colored rings around the sun showing in the clouds. I didn’t remember noticing this before, but after doing bit of research I found out that a corona around the sun is one of the most common atmospheric phenomena. Although they are fairly common, they tend to be overlooked because the sun (and sunlit clouds) are too bright to look at. It is easier to observe a corona around a full moon, but since the moon is much less bright than the sun, it is quite unlikely to see multiple rings such as I saw today.
