46° halo or supra-/infralateral arc? Column oriented crystals form supra- and infralateral arcs when rays pass between a side face and an end face. These are the same paths as those that produce a 46° halo from randomly oriented crystals .

But what happens when oriented columns have large wobbles, as can large or equidimensional crystals? Mouse slowly over the slider from bottom to top to see the effect of increasing wobble.

Tilts** up to 3° produce clear infra- and supralateral arcs with a characteristic cusp at the parhelic circle. At larger tilts the arcs' inner edges become more circular. Halos from tilts of 5 - 8° would be difficult to distinguish in the sky from a 'true' 46° circular halo. Tilts of 35° produce both 46° and 22° halos that look almost the same as those of randomly oriented crystals.

In some cases there is no real distinction between 46° halos and supralateral arcs.   Some "46° halos" are the products of wobbly column crystals.
   

**	Tilts quoted are the standard deviation of a normal distribution with a mean of zero.