Mie Theory Model of the Corona

We performed a calculation of the corona colors that employed Mie theory to obtain the scattered light intensity. The scattered intensity was integrated over the visible spectrum for a number of different cloud droplet size distributions. The results were converted to chromaticity coordinates, convolved with the angular size of the sun, and plotted on the 1931 CIE chromaticity diagram. The results were compared to observations of multiple-ring coronas. It was found that, when using Mie theory to estimate cloud droplet sizes, water droplets with diameters in the 7-mu-m less-than-or-similar-to D less-than-or-similar-to 15-mu-m range produced the 13 multiple-ring coronas that were observed.