Railing Halos

On October 17, I came in the back door at work and saw a bright ring on the wall and floor at the bottom of the stairs. I had never seen anything quite like it before, so I stopped to try to figure it out.

It must have been the West Michigan DST equivalent of high noon, which would be getting close to 2 PM. The railing is oriented south to north as it angles down the stairs. The sun was shining through a window at precisely (or perhaps nearly) the same angle as the railing. The sun reflected off the surface of the round railing creating a halo on the wall.

I watched for the same thing this winter, which should have occurred around...well I haven't figured it out yet...about a month before spring equinox. So I'm too late, as I noticed the other day. There's a good chance the right day was a cloudy one.

Maybe next fall, or the spring following. I hope so.