GeneralFriday, February 17th, 2006, (8:49 pm)
This was the scene above me the other night. I meant to post it then but I forgot. I’ve never seen that before, it was quite strange, the moon surrounded by a huge ring. It was in the sky all night long.
I love living around here, where I can be in the English countryside in just a few minutes. Sometimes I go for a late night drive and then throw the roof back, and listen to my iPod while I look at the stars and ponder the things people do when gazing at far off places.
Wrote the following comment on Feb 17, 2006 at 7:37 pm
I love the photo, Simon. We see rings around the moon but never that wide. Did your weather change, I wonder?
Wrote the following comment on Feb 18, 2006 at 12:14 am
Aliens!
Wrote the following comment on Feb 17, 2006 at 5:02 pm
A moondog… gonna have a change in weather; usually indicates rain. Pretty, though, innit?
Wrote the following comment on Feb 18, 2006 at 2:14 am
I Googled ‘Moondog’ and learned they were a 70’s punk band. I also learned about ‘moon dogging’ which I could have lived a lifetime without knowing about and I would be no less happy, but eventually I found a site that educated me.
A ‘moon dog’ though is “caused by the refraction of Moonlight (which of course is reflected sunlight) from ice crystals in the upper atmosphere. 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 almost always the same size.”
I learned this from a site all about such things which went on to address the folklore of a coming weather change. “In many cases this may be true. The ice crystals that cover the halo signify high altitude, thin cirrus clouds that normally precede a warm front by one or two days. Typically, a warm front will be associated with a low pressure system which is commonly referred to as a storm.”I think we did indeed have a weather change from cold, dull and rainy to bright and cold.
Wrote the following comment on Feb 17, 2006 at 6:51 pm
wow, that’s a really cool sight.
Wrote the following comment on Feb 17, 2006 at 7:07 pm
pretty :)
Wrote the following comment on Feb 18, 2006 at 3:31 am
I saw that for the first time when I moved to Georgia…it was beautiful. I didn’t know what it was either but I found out later.Have a wonderful day..Cathi
Wrote the following comment on Feb 18, 2006 at 11:56 am
Kewl pic!!!
Wrote the following comment on Feb 18, 2006 at 5:27 pm
thanks for dropping by and leaving a comment. the pic of the moon is really neat=)
Wrote the following comment on Feb 18, 2006 at 6:42 pm
Did you get any snow that night? A lot of times, a ring around the moon is caused by the humidity and snow follows. Man, way to ruin the mystery.
Wrote the following comment on Feb 19, 2006 at 3:40 am
Ah, sorry for ruining the mystery of a moon dog. Though I think even with the scientific knowledge there is still mystery. As for the question of snow. Well no, we don’t get snow in these parts. It tries to snow ever so often. But it never settles, and by the time I awake it’s always gone. I haven’t seen snow here in probably 12 years!
Wrote the following comment on Feb 19, 2006 at 9:59 am
Ooops, me and my lack of properly separating. ;-) Though! You’ve now got my curiosity picqued about “moon dogging.” Erm, do I wanna go and look up what that means?