Did You See Rings Around The Moon in Maine Last Night? Here’s Why
We just got home tonight from a nice dinner out at Margaritas with friends. And no, that's not why I'm seeing rings around the moon tonight, wise guys.
I went out on the deck just before getting ready to head to bed because our dog needed to go out and do his nightly business. Typically I don't stand out there and wait for him because it's usually wicked cold out. Tonight, it's hovering just around freezing, so I stood and waited.
As I was standing there waiting for him I noticed the bright glow of the moon on my back lawn. I turned and looked up and was very surprised to see the the glow of a waxing gibbous moon was surrounded by not one, but three halo-like light rings. I took the photo below with no filter, no flash and on my iPhone 12 Pro. This is the portrait style photo unaltered.
I snapped a photo and immediately went inside to do some investigating. As it turns out, this isn't as uncommon as I initially thought it was. According to WHSV.com,
The ring, or a lunar halo, is caused by the refraction and reflection of light from ice crystals that are suspended in thin, wispy, cirrus or cirrostratus clouds that are at high altitudes. As light passes through the ice crystals, it is bent at a 22-degree angle, creating a halo of 22 degrees. This ring can be very faint or very distinct based on the amount of cirrus clouds and/or the amount of light passing through them.
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