2 Sunday we have another snow storm
to day the river has is still frozen
over so that teams cross

The following is the description of the sun

HALOS AND PHARHELIA

This morning, bet[w]een the housrs of six and
nine oclock, the heavens exhibited a splen-
did and delightful appearance, of halos or
circles accompanied with parhelia or mock
suns. Clouds of a white & fleecy appearance
were at the time floating in the atmosphere,
but so thin as not to entirely obscure the blue
sky the wind blue vary gently from the west
by northwest. The cold being intense essp-
ecially for the time of year and small crysta-
ls of ice or snow were visible s floating in the air
The following diagram represents these beau-
tiful phenomena as they appeared about half
past seven oclock A.M. The magnitudes of the
circles given in the following decription may not
be exact as I was destitute of the proper inst
ruments for their accurate measurement.

[FIGURE cut out from newspaper]

1^st Let z be the zenith
directly under which
the observer is statio
ned looking to the
east let the outer
circle represent the
horizon's the tru
sun about 18°
above the horizon
surrounded by a
vary bright prism-
atic circle not
far from 45° de
in diameter; the lower
limb of which exten-
ded below the horizen
nearly 41–2°. Its breadth
and colours were ab[o]ut the
same as that of a common
rainbow nearly all the prismatic colours

were discernible the red being on the concave
part of the circle next [to] the sun. On each
side of the sun at a and b towards the north
and south there were two mock suns of
different colours vary splendid & bright
in their appearance.

2nd The sun was
encircled by another halo, k n i m, much
larger than the former, and parellel to it
being nearly 90° in diameter and its lower
limb being sunk below the horizen about
27° It exhibited the same colours as the
first though not so bright. ^3rd^ At the top of
these circles at e and i, were two inverted
arches whose common centre seemed
to lay in the zenith. The upper arch f i h
was excedingly brilliant and beautifully
coloured and appeared to be about
54° degrees in diameter and that of the
lower one d c e about 99°. Annother
Parhelion or mock sun appeared in the
middle of the lower arch, at c whare it
coincided with the circle first described
but its colours and brightness were much
inferior to those of the collateral mock
suns at a and b. 4^th There appeared
a circle in b s a n t r, much larger
than any I have yet described being
about 144° in diameter and of a uniform
whiteness. It was about 18 degrees above
the horizen, and parallel to it passing through
the tru sun, s, and the collateral parhelia
a, and b and also through two other
parhelia, t and r, sumthing about
90 or 100° from the sun one towards
the north & the other towards the south.

The parhelia t and r were of a whitish
colour and not vary distinctly seen. The
parhelia t and r were of a whitish colour
and not vary distinc[t]ly seen. The intersec-
tions, m and n, of this circle with the
k i m were rendered more distinctly
seen. the intersections m and n of this
circle with the circle k i m were renderd
more distinctly visible than other
portions of the two circles [FIGURES]
[FIGURES]

O Pratt A.M.

Professer of Mathematics in the University
of the City of Nauvoo March 23rd 1843