Ring round the moon

This may be common as old boots, but the first time I've seen it.

Last night, around midnight, hazy, (no stars visible) and the moon had a
"rain tomorrow" (not yet!) fuzzy halo, there was a clear compltete bright
circle all round it at quite a distance.

The moon was close to fully overhead.

The radius was about a hand lengthways span at arms length, say about 15
degrees.

Is this a common phenomenon?, I've not seen it before, and is the clear
complete circle common.

I guess it's like rainbows, or sundogs, but would appreciate confirmation

thanx

mike

On Sun, 28 Nov 2004 11:21:42 +0000 (UTC), mike ring
wrote:

This may be common as old boots, but the first time I've seen it.

Last night, around midnight, hazy, (no stars visible) and the moon had a
"rain tomorrow" (not yet!) fuzzy halo, there was a clear compltete bright
circle all round it at quite a distance.

The moon was close to fully overhead.

The radius was about a hand lengthways span at arms length, say about 15
degrees.

Is this a common phenomenon?, I've not seen it before, and is the clear
complete circle common.

I guess it's like rainbows, or sundogs, but would appreciate confirmation

There is only one site needed to answer your questions Mike - and it's
a good one!

http://www.sundog.clara.co.uk/atoptics/phenom.htm
--
Pete
http://www.digitalsky.org.uk
Home of the Lunar Parallax Demonstration Project

On Sun, 28 Nov 2004 11:21:42 +0000 (UTC), mike ring
wrote:


I guess it's like rainbows, or sundogs, but would appreciate confirmation

Here's a direct link to the page of interest...

http://www.sundog.clara.co.uk/halo/circular.htm
--
Pete
http://www.digitalsky.org.uk
Home of the Lunar Parallax Demonstration Project

"mike ring" wrote
[...]

Kinda amusing in a rather lame way, given your name!

Maybe after death, you could get cremated, sent up to the Moon, and
have your ashes put into a long-lifetime lunar orbit. Then you could
literally be, a Ring around the Moon!

I'll get me coat.


Martin
--
M.A.Poyser Tel.: 07967 110890
Manchester, U.K. http://www.fleetie.demon.co.uk

Pete Lawrence wrote in
news

There is only one site needed to answer your questions Mike - and it's
a good one!

http://www.sundog.clara.co.uk/atoptics/phenom.htm

Oh, dear..... "familiar circle round the Sun or Moon"

Never mind, and thanks for the link to the site, it's very informative.

mike

On Mon, 29 Nov 2004 12:24:08 -0000, "Holly" wrote:


mike ring wrote in message

Oh, dear..... "familiar circle round the Sun or Moon"

Never mind, and thanks for the link to the site, it's very
informative.

If it's any consolation, I asked the exactly same question once and felt
exactly the same when I read the answer! :-)

You shouldn't really feel that way. The halo around the Moon should
be read as an alarm to indicate that there may be more going on that
isn't so common (as described on the halo site. Ok - so most of the
time there isn't, however there's still a chance that there is.

--
Pete
http://www.digitalsky.org.uk

mike ring wrote in message

Oh, dear..... "familiar circle round the Sun or Moon"

Never mind, and thanks for the link to the site, it's very
informative.

If it's any consolation, I asked the exactly same question once and felt
exactly the same when I read the answer! :-)

Holly

Pete Lawrence wrote in message
"Holly" wrote:
mike ring wrote in message

Oh, dear..... "familiar circle round the Sun or Moon"

Never mind, and thanks for the link to the site, it's very
informative.

If it's any consolation, I asked the exactly same question once
and felt exactly the same when I read the answer! :-)

You shouldn't really feel that way. The halo around the Moon should
be read as an alarm to indicate that there may be more going on that
isn't so common (as described on the halo site. Ok - so most of the
time there isn't, however there's still a chance that there is.

Thanks, it's a long time since I looked into it, I'll have another look
at the site. I shall then promptly forget all the details and have to
look again next time I see a halo...

Holly

On Mon, 29 Nov 2004 13:00:18 -0000, "Holly" wrote:

You shouldn't really feel that way. The halo around the Moon should
be read as an alarm to indicate that there may be more going on that
isn't so common (as described on the halo site. Ok - so most of the
time there isn't, however there's still a chance that there is.

Thanks, it's a long time since I looked into it, I'll have another look
at the site. I shall then promptly forget all the details and have to
look again next time I see a halo...

Yeah - I do that too. To be honest, I've seen haloes (Moon and Sun),
dogs (Moon and Sun) and a circumzenithal arc (a few times). There was
a corona around the Moon last night too come to think of it. However,
the rarer effects are quite elusive.

Many people don't even notice haloes when they are shining them in the
face. The biggest step is to start looking I guess ;-)

--
Pete
http://www.digitalsky.org.uk