Last nights moon

[taper]

Did any one else see the moon last night? It was showing a very pronounced ring around it. A fair distance out and almost cloud looking but definitely surrounding the moon. I wondered if it was a reflection on clouds a certain distance away. Tried to get a couple of shots of it but with my limited camera skills they did not show up.

[Greencoachdog]

I would say it was a reflection off of ice crystals in the atmosphere.

[ccmtcanada]

It's was like that last night and the night before. Glen has it right...

 

"The ring around the Moon is caused by cirrus clouds up in the atmosphere. Those couds are about 5 - 7 miles up, where the temp is about 70 degrees below zero, so the clouds are made of ice crystals.

 

The Moons light passes through the crystals like light pasing through a prism, so you get a halo. Some are small and some large. The large halo usually means precipitation sometime during the next 36 hours."

 

Taken from: http://en.allexperts.com/q/Astronomy-1360/...around-moon.htm

[taper]

Thanks for the explanation guys.

[Rizzo]

oops, thought this thread was about Jamario Moon performing in last night's dunk contest. The first was a beaut, not sure what he was thinking on the second