Anyone seen a Moon Halo?

[Ursa Major]

Hello,

I just took a look out of my window to look at the moon which was behind thin cloud and there was a lovely bright halo around it. It was very colourful showing shades of orange. I tried to take a photo but I do not have a tripod and I could not really get the right exposure.

When the moon drifted out of the cloud it showed a new halo, a smaller one with yellow in the inner bit and greeny blue on the outside halo.

I have seen pictures of sun halos which are coursed by the light refracting through high up ice partials, but are moon halos coursed by the same thing?

Anyway it was and still is a wonderful sight so I’m going back out to marvel at it.

Thank you.

[Veracocha]

I saw a cracker at SGL6 (someone posted a picture here somewhere) but tonights a cloud out in Brum. All set up and the clouds ruined a lovely moon.

[JamesC]

This site's great for that kind of thing: Atmospheric Optics.

I remember seeing a great 22 degree halo round the moon one Christmas Eve. Actually 22 degree halos are really common but you have to look for them because they are such a long way from the sun/moon.

[Peter Drew]

Not uncommon, but as JamesC says, you have to look out for them. On a similar tack, has anyone else seen a "Moonbow", a rainbow caused by moonlight, these are much rarer due to the complex circumstances for them to form. They have a beautifull silvery appearance, it's quite likely that photography would reveal some subtle colours.

[Ursa Major]

Looks like they had them in Sweden aswell on the 14th. SpaceWeather.com -- News and information about meteor showers, solar flares, auroras, and near-Earth asteroids

[Ursa Major]

Also, this video is amazing. Look at the moon halo at 1:46 as the clouds pass over. Such a beautiful sight. APOD: 2011 May 16 - Time Lapse Clouds and Sky Over the Canary Islands

You may have to wait for the video to load.

[Capricorn]

Yes, several.

Nice in a way but not that uncommon.

[JimBobs63]

Hi,

Yeah, I've also seen it several times - looks rather stunning.

In fact, despite thinking at the time, "Oh darn it, won't bother getting the telescope out - seeing won't be good on stars and DSOs tonight", it still made me look up and think, "Gee, that's nice...."!!

Jim