Aureola enveloping the whole body, generally appears oval or elliptical in form, but occasionally depicted as circular, vesica piscis, or quatrefoil. When it appears merely as a luminous disk round the head, it is called specifically a "halo" or "nimbus", while the combination of nimbus and aureole is called a "glory". The strict distinction between nimbus and aureole is not commonly maintained, and the latter term is most frequently used to denote the radiance round the heads of saints, angels or Persons of the Trinity. This is not to be confused with the specific "motif" in art of the Infant Jesus
Aureole effect plane. Although the focused (light) ray cones are actually more or less parallel to each other, the rays from the aureole effect appear to be radiating from the shadow of the viewer’s head due to perspective effects. The viewer's line of sight is parallel and lies within the cones, so from the viewer's perspective the rays seem to be radiating from the antisolar point, within the viewer's shadow. As in similar antisolar optical effects (such as a glory or Heiligenschein), each observer will see an aureole effect radiating only from their own head’s shadow. Similarly, if a photographer holds their