A Ring Around The Moon
Last night I saw one of the most impressive Moon halos I have ever seen.
It wasn’t the coldest of nights, but it must have been further up in the atmosphere, for what was the near Full Moon completely washed the ground in a bluish twilight of colour and looking up, I noticed a massive ring in the night sky.
Filling most of the sky it was like a perfect circle of light centred around the Moon - quite spectacular. I’d seen pictures of Moon halos before, but this was nothing like I had imagined them… usually they have looked much smaller in photos - perhaps all the photos I’ve seen have been of smaller halos, I’m not sure. Either way, last nights was incredible.
From the web; the ring around the Moon is caused by the refraction of Moonlight (which of course is reflected sunlight) from ice crystals in the upper atmosphere. The shape of the ice crystals results in a focusing of the light into a ring. Since the ice crystals typically have the same shape, namely a hexagonal shape, the Moon ring is almost always the same size.
Unfortunately I didn’t have my camera with me at the time and by the time I got home, either the ice had gone, or the encroaching cloud had ruined the effect from where I was, because the halo had gone.
Nonetheless, a beautiful sight I won’t soon forget..
*Mental note.. always take camera everywhere with you in future.*
A few from around the internet (not mine obviously):
