# Street light halos **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 28, 2000, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/street-light-halos/30997 "2000-08-28T03:49:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2000, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/street-light-halos/30997/1 "2000-08-28T03:49:39Z")
Does anyone else see “halos” around street lights? I assume it’s just some optical illusion, but what causes it? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2000, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/street-light-halos/30997/2 "2000-08-28T04:40:06Z")
Two possibilities: First, it’s hazy, foggy, or rainy. The haze is only clearly illuminated out to a certain distance from the light, and that’s what you see. This will be a round halo. Secondly, if there’s a layer of glass (windshield, glasses, whatever) between you and the light, you can get glare from it, producing rays from the lamp (usually two, in opposite directions. ---
**Author:** ![Mauve\_Dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ad7895/32.png) [@Mauve\_Dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mauve_Dog)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2000, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/street-light-halos/30997/3 "2000-08-28T04:41:41Z")
I see them. I also tend to see ‘spikes’ around bright lights. I always thought that I saw these things because of failing vision. When I got my first set of glasses last year, I went with the non-glare lenses; I was told that they would significantly reduce the halo/spike phenomena. They didn’t. I’ve also noticed that these phenomena tend to be more prevalent when I am tired than when wide awake. ---
**Author:** ![TroubleAgain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e480ec/32.png) [@TroubleAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroubleAgain)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2000, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/street-light-halos/30997/4 "2000-08-28T05:42:17Z")
I get 'em bad with my glasses. Less so with my contacts. But you should SEE what I see without glass OR contacts! Woooo-hoooo! Every street light, headlight, traffic light, etc is as bright and spiky as a fireworks display! You might try having you doctor check for astimatism, though. Some kind of correction on that might reduce it, but I kinda doubt it. Didn’t help me, any more than the no-glare lenses did. ---
**Author:** ![Phobos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Phobos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phobos)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2000, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/street-light-halos/30997/5 "2000-08-28T12:29:07Z")
[anti-light pollution hijack] If municipalities would just use full cut-off (or properly shielded) street lights, people wouldn’t have all these problems with glare. Improves safety. Saves money. Gives me a better view of the stars [/end hijack] (sorry!) ---
**Author:** ![John\_Kentzel-Griffin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ccd318/32.png) [@John\_Kentzel-Griffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Kentzel-Griffin)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2000, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/street-light-halos/30997/6 "2000-08-28T12:51:20Z")
When my eyes are irritated from wearing my contacts too long, I see halos around street lights. If you see this all or most of the time you should tell your eye doctor about it. ---
**Author:** ![Zabes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b19c9b/32.png) [@Zabes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zabes)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2000, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/street-light-halos/30997/7 "2000-08-28T16:43:57Z")
I’ll get this when my eyes are particularly tired or early in the morning, when I still have gunk in my eyes. It has to be a fairly direct source of light (reflected sunlight or incandescent light) and rubbing my eyes or concentrating on the source of the light will make it go away.