Media Information
 
 
 
Collection:
NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day Collection
Title:
A Halo Around the Moon
Explanation:
Have you ever seen a halo around the Moon? This fairly common sight occurs when high thin clouds [ http://ww2010.atmos. uiuc.edu/(Gh)/wwhlpr /cirrus.rxml?hret=/g uides/mtr/opt/ice/ha lo/22.rxml ] containing millions of tiny ice crystals [ http://www.sundog.c…] cover much of the sky. Each ice crystal [ http://kristall.uni…] acts like a miniature lens. Because most [ http://www.sundog.c…] of the crystals have a similar elongated hexagonal shape, light entering one crystal face and exiting through the opposing face refracts 22 degrees [ http://mintaka.sdsu…], which corresponds to the radius of the Moon Halo [ http://ww2010.atmos. uiuc.edu/(Gh)/guides /mtr/opt/ice/halo/22 .rxml ]. A similar Sun Halo [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] may be visible during the day. The picture was taken in Lansdowne, Pennsylvania [ http://www.state.pa…], USA [ http://www.cia.gov/…]. The distant planet Jupiter [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] appears by chance just to the left of the Moon [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…]. Exactly how ice-crystals form [ http://www.its.calt…] in clouds remains under investigation [ http://adsabs.harva…].
Credit and Copyright:
Sarah McKay [ mailto:sarahmckaypho to@hotmail.com.Addde dToAvoidSpamPleaseDe lete ]
facet_where:
Jupiter
facet_where:
Pennsylvania
facet_where:
Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC)
facet_what:
Moon
facet_what:
Sun
facet_what:
Jupiter
facet_what:
KRISTALL
facet_what:
MINTAKA
facet_what:
moon
facet_what:
Advanced Communication Technology Satellite (ACTS)
original url:
http://antwrp.gsfc.…
UID:
SPD-APOD-ap030421

A Halo Around the Moon
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