To anyone out there with any astronomy/meteorology expertise:
I have a sky-watching question for you- last night the sky over Oxford,
UK,
was very lightly cloudy/overcast, whith brighter stars visible. The
moon, however, seemed completely clear, as was the sky in a perfect circle
round
it, perhaps 15-20 moon-diameters across. The effect was fascinating and
beautiful, but what did it? Obviously, the "clear patch" was also cloudy, but
the moonlight was getting through it more directly. Tyndall effect? Ice
crystals refracting the light? Some sort of "moonbow"? Will it be back?
cheers, Rob
> To anyone out there with any astronomy/meteorology expertise:
Those'd be ice crystals suspended high in the air, refracting the light,
giving a halo around the moon. You can sometimes see this around the sun, too,
but it's rarer (because the sun is so bright).
Mk
[re: halos about the moon]
> I have seen this twice in my life, and it is beautiful. It is caused
[...sig crunch...]
> Is it really that rare? I see it a couple times a year in Michigan and
It's really not that rare. It's unusual; it doesn't happen every night, or
every month, but it does happen. Just need the right weather conditions. I've
seen this a fair number of times in my life (dozen or two times?). Just most
people rarely look up, rarely look at the sky, so miss a great deal of
the splendor that is presented to us. Light pollution doesn't help. :-/
Mk
> It's really not that rare. It's unusual; it doesn't happen every
:-/
> Seems to me that you live in a colder clime (Michigan) than I
I live up here in B'more, Scott; nowhere near Michigan. ;-)
I've seen halos in all seasons. Surface temps don't necessarily have anything
to do with it.
Mk
I see it a lot in Northern Illinois.
> Jonathan Jarrard wrote:
> Scott Nolan wrote: