Ring Around The Moon

Photo: brian s huff [Flickr]

Did you see the ring around the moon last night? If you did and wondered what caused it, Yahoo! Buzz Log has the answer:

Though it looked ominous, the shiny ring around the moon last night was actually a rather common weather phenomenon. According to various weather-related blogs across the Buzz, this ring around the moon occurs when thin cirrus clouds, which contain ice crystals, refract the moonlight. A blog from the Goddard Space Flight Center explains that "the shape of the ice crystals results in a focusing of the light into a ring. Since the ice crystals typically have the same shape, namely a hexagonal shape, the Moon ring is always the same size."

Link

Got a pic of this before myself,

http://pix.ie/whatchamacallit/662865/size/800

Abusive comment hidden. (Show it anyway.)

Moon Dog?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moon_dog

Abusive comment hidden. (Show it anyway.)

"Did you see the ring around the moon last night?"

No, because I wasn't where the cirrus clouds were. This isn't a worldwide phenomenon.

Abusive comment hidden. (Show it anyway.)

Weather is local. Therefore, so is this effect. Not everyone in the whole world could have seen the same thing. C'mon Alex, I thought you were a scientist.

Abusive comment hidden. (Show it anyway.)

I've seen the same type of thing quite a few times, but not last night.

Abusive comment hidden. (Show it anyway.)

BUT BUT BUT WE ALL SEE THE SAME MOON! Lol - you're right ByrdBrain :)

Abusive comment hidden. (Show it anyway.)

The ring around the moon is an old sailor's foreacsting supersition. I forget excatly how it goes, but the idea is if the ring is small, a large storm is coming, but if the ring is large, the storm will be small. No clue if it has any scientific accuracy or not. :)

Abusive comment hidden. (Show it anyway.)

Damnit! EVERY single time something cool happens, it rains here!!! BOOOOOOO

Abusive comment hidden. (Show it anyway.)

Didn't see it in my neck of the woods last night, but there was one here last month. Have you ever seen one around the sun? I have, but I don't know if it's the same phenomenon.

Abusive comment hidden. (Show it anyway.)

There is no moon! Sarah P. told me so!
Its a lib-commy plot!-she said so!
I hate you all!
signed,
SP fan

Abusive comment hidden. (Show it anyway.)

We get these every two months or so in the Northeast. I never thought they were that big a deal until the internet decided to tell me so.

The one in that picture is pretty tame- sometimes they get twice that size and the edge goes a sort of whitish purple.

Abusive comment hidden. (Show it anyway.)

Moondog.

It's also an Indian legend that this phenomenon is a predictor of imminent moisture falling from the sky.

Our local weatherman has kept statistics for a few years and it turns out to be true a majority of the time. He brings it up anytime there is a good sundog or moondog.

Abusive comment hidden. (Show it anyway.)

I've always noticed that the following day or two, after this phenomenon are usually warm with nice weather (ie no rain etc)

Abusive comment hidden. (Show it anyway.)

I thought that this phenomenon was called a glory. I've seen some huge rings around the moon in the US midwest.

And @timette: Sarah Palin can see the moon from her house!

Abusive comment hidden. (Show it anyway.)

A woman down the street where I live swears it has to do something with Chemtrails and the coming Doom of 2012- She knows for sure that this didn't happen -as much- in her youth.

I just think it is a beautiful phenomenon and I love to see them.

Abusive comment hidden. (Show it anyway.)

saw it all the time when i was in mexico :/

Abusive comment hidden. (Show it anyway.)

Yup, a moon dog. We had once a while back here in western SD. It means change in weather around here. Sun dogs in the winter predict colder weather. When there are two, watch out!

Love this blog, by the way!

Abusive comment hidden. (Show it anyway.)

There's an old saying in rural New England that goes, "ring around the moon means it'll snow soon."

Abusive comment hidden. (Show it anyway.)

I am here in Arab, AL this is the first time I have ever seen anyhing like this.. it is so cool!!

Abusive comment hidden. (Show it anyway.)

hello
Why is there a ring around the moon before bad weather? And what causes it?
Cross

Abusive comment hidden. (Show it anyway.)

Login to comment.

Click here to access all of this post's 20 comments