2011/10/12
moon halo
Today I looked up at the night sky and there was this wonderfully full moon, but it was sitting in the middle of a huge perfectly round disk opening into the heavens amidst the clouds. I wondered what the heck it was, thinking it might be the result of Earth-shadow.
It turns out this was a moon halo. The page says that the phenomenon is “familiar,” but I’ve never seen it in my life, and had I not looked up for no reason, I would have missed this one, too! By my hand measurement, it spanned 45° in diameter, which is a pretty big portion of the sky. Jupiter was also visible within the ring of the halo. Quite amazing.
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