Gulf astronomers may have noticed something unusual on Saturday night: a unique halo around the moon.
Twitter was in turmoil. One user wrote, “The moon is a ghost.” “The moon looks crazy tonight,” wrote another.
What is the reason for that?
A weather local, John Nall, He said on Twitter “The light of almost the full moon is reflected by ice crystals from the high and upper Cirrus clouds in the Gulf tonight to create a well – defined lunar halo of 22 degrees.” “
Nall shared a photo of the event on Twitter showing a bright halo around the moon in the dark sky.
The halo says that “the ring or light that forms around the sun or moon when sunlight or moonlight is transformed from ice crystals into a thin veil of cirrus clouds”. National Weather Service officials.
This is an optical effect that will occur “when weather conditions are good,” meteorological officials said.
Yes, it is the lunar ring or lunar halo. This effect occurs when light from ice crystals forms high, thin clouds called cirrhosis.
– Sona NWS Bay (@NWSBayArea) December 27, 2020
“In the atmosphere, under certain conditions, water droplets and ice crystals can act as a prism, allowing us to see different colors that produce visible light,” meteorologists said on its website Hollows and other types of optical effects. “Because of these properties we get different atmospheric optical effects.”
Saturday night halo was noticeable because the bay area was mostly clear and dry, but The rain should come On Sundays and Mondays in the region.
The light of an almost finite full-scale moon forms a well-defined 22-degree lunar halo over the bay area tonight by ice crystals in thin clouds and cirrus clouds. pic.twitter.com/QHwuHymA8O
– John Nall (ggweather) December 27, 2020
Lauren Hernandez is the author of the San Francisco Chronicle. Email: [email protected] Twitter: YBYLHernandez