Alpha Centauri 2

Community => Recreation Commons => Our researchers have made a breakthrough! => Topic started by: Buster's Uncle on January 26, 2014, 06:04:07 pm

Title: Lunar Halo Crowns the Moon Over Observatory in Striking Photo
Post by: Buster's Uncle on January 26, 2014, 06:04:07 pm

Lunar Halo Crowns the Moon Over Observatory in Striking Photo
SPACE.com
by Nina Sen, SPACE.com Contributor  2 hours ago


(http://l.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/cbPYvkrpVcyOJGCbcXODmQ--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9ZmlsbDtoPTY2NztweW9mZj0wO3E9NzU7dz01NzU-/http://media.zenfs.com/en_US/News/SPACE.com/Lunar_Halo_Crowns_the_Moon-2ad7847c91e5533f369a24b211451dc9)
A lunar halo glows over Frosty Drew Observatory. Scott MacNeill captured this image at approximately midnight on Jan. 18, 2014 from Charlestown, R.I



A beautiful lunar halo encircles the moon over an observatory in Rhode Island in this stunning image recently sent in to SPACE.com.

Skywatcher Scott MacNeill took this photo of the moon around midnight on Jan. 18 from Frosty Drew Observatory, Charlestown, R.I.

"We had about two hours of viewing before the clouds moved in," MacNeill wrote SPACE.com in an email. "The cool temps and super humid air kept us hopeful for a halo."

Halos around the moon, such as the one seen in this photo, are fairly common in the night sky. They are caused when light is diffracted from ice crystals formed in clouds in the Earth's atmosphere. Since the crystals are all of the same general shape, the light bouncing off them creates the circular pattern, creating the round halo shape.


http://news.yahoo.com/lunar-halo-crowns-moon-over-observatory-striking-photo-154014603.html (http://news.yahoo.com/lunar-halo-crowns-moon-over-observatory-striking-photo-154014603.html)