Hello,
just looked at the moon here in llanelli west wales. seems to be an
effect of a circle around the moon, long way out but a definite circle,
is it cloud or what, what causes it, does it have a name ? Tried to
google for an answer but no help, any ideas ?
thanks
Dennis

Dennis Moore wrote:
Hello,
just looked at the moon here in llanelli west wales. seems to be an
effect of a circle around the moon, long way out but a definite circle,
is it cloud or what, what causes it, does it have a name ? Tried to
google for an answer but no help, any ideas ?
thanks
Dennis

It is a moon halo. I am only about 25 miles north of you and had just
noticed it myself.

I checked uk.sci.weather FAQs and was directed to the following
excellent site:-

http://www.sundog.clara.co.uk/halo/circmoon.htm

--
Howard Neil

"Dennis Moore" wrote in message
...
Hello,
just looked at the moon here in llanelli west wales. seems to be an effect
of a circle around the moon, long way out but a definite circle, is it
cloud or what, what causes it, does it have a name ? Tried to google for
an answer but no help, any ideas ?
thanks
Dennis



What you've just witnessed is ' Dark Matter' Please collect your Nobel
prize.

Howard Neil wrote:

http://www.sundog.clara.co.uk/halo/circmoon.htm
From that site:
Halos are not purely daytime happenings. Look for them whenever a
bright moon is veiled by thin cirrus cloud. A full or nearly full moon
is best.

22º halos often encircle the moon. More rarely, because the moon is
relatively dim, it is possible to see moondogs and other halos.
Colours are faint or non existent because their light is barely strong
enough to excite the colour sensors of our eyes.

Much smaller coloured rings sometimes surround the moon. These are not
a halo but a corona produced by the diffraction of light by the water
droplets of clouds. And of course moonlight creates a rainbow although
to the unaided eye it is usually a wan creature devoid of colour.

*******

More on them he http://eo.ucar.edu/rainbows/

It's stratus causing it. If you could be sure the depth of the cloud
was thickest over the region of sky traversed by the moon you WOULD be
able to utilise it as weather sign.

Cirro-stratus would be the high stuff alledged to give the rainbows but
I have an idea that the lower stuff would be the ones giving the darker
more significant signs.

There is a good article on rainbows in the Open University schedule. It
is a quite well packed, comprehensive view of the physics, so not an
Horizon production -therefore well worth waiting up for:
http://www.open2.net/learnsomething/index.html (Not that I could find
the link I was after.)

I would love to see some images of them with polarised filters and in
different wavelengths. Does anyone here posses such hi-tech equiptment?
If so, pull your bloody finger out!

I'm not getting any younger.

"Howard Neil" wrote in message
...

It is a moon halo. I am only about 25 miles north of you and had just
noticed it myself.

There was about 20 calls to the Met Office customer centre last night
reporting the halo.

Jon.

"Dennis Moore" wrote in message
...
Hello,
just looked at the moon here in llanelli west wales. seems to be an effect
of a circle around the moon, long way out but a definite circle, is it
cloud or what, what causes it, does it have a name ? Tried to google for
an answer but no help, any ideas ?

I saw this beautiful lunar halo last night too, from NW Cumbria. Quite
spectacular. The best and biggest I've ever seen, and the circle was quite
perfect. You could just make out colours in the halo itself - I thought it
was an illusion at the time but I've been assured that in good conditions
(which we obviously had) colours can be seen. (just!)

My camera isn't good enough so I didn't manage to capture it, and it was so
big that I discovered it wouldn't even fit in the viewfinder - I'd have had
to take several pix and splice them together. (Oh for a digital SLR with a
wide-angle lens...)

ally

a l l y wrote:

My camera isn't good enough so I didn't manage to capture it, and it was so
big that I discovered it wouldn't even fit in the viewfinder - I'd have had
to take several pix and splice them together. (Oh for a digital SLR with a
wide-angle lens...)

You can set up a scanner with a camera lense. Not exactly mobile but it
should be good for astronomy and stuff like that. If you have a spare
lense and a roll of duct tape the cost would be quite low -considering
the results could be the very best you can get:
http://www.boingboing.net/2006/01/19...nners_int.html

On Sat, 11 Feb 2006 19:19:42 -0000, a l l y wrote:

I saw this beautiful lunar halo last night too, from NW Cumbria.

Rats, why didn't you stick this up in ulc?

--
Cheers
Dave. pam is missing e-mail

"Weatherlawyer" wrote in message
ups.com...

a l l y wrote:

My camera isn't good enough so I didn't manage to capture it, and it was
so
big that I discovered it wouldn't even fit in the viewfinder - I'd have
had
to take several pix and splice them together. (Oh for a digital SLR with
a
wide-angle lens...)

You can set up a scanner with a camera lense. Not exactly mobile but it
should be good for astronomy and stuff like that. If you have a spare
lense and a roll of duct tape the cost would be quite low -considering
the results could be the very best you can get:
http://www.boingboing.net/2006/01/19...nners_int.html

Gosh, what fun! Don't know about using it for astrophotography, but the
possibilities for weirdness are endless!

ally

"Dave Liquorice" wrote in message
ll.com...
On Sat, 11 Feb 2006 19:19:42 -0000, a l l y wrote:

I saw this beautiful lunar halo last night too, from NW Cumbria.

Rats, why didn't you stick this up in ulc?

Sorry Dave - it had faded almost to nothing by the time I got back to my
computer. I spent ages trying and failing to take photos of it. (Time to
start saving up for a better camera, methinks.) I'd have missed it myself if
the dogs hadn't been demanding a visit to the garden.

ally