Did you see the moon's halo last night?

LJWorld.com weblogs Lawrence Weather Watch

Posted by Ashley Meenen January 27, 2010 at 11:04 a.m.

A few weeks ago we had a beautiful show of optical effects; we saw everything from sun dogs to halos around the sun. Matt Miller wrote a great blog labeling the different optical effects here.

Last night we saw something similar, a halo around the moon. Here are a few viewer submitted pictures of the halo.

The picture above was submitted by Pete Haack

The picture above was submitted by Scott May

A halo around the moon forms in the same way a halo around the sun forms. Light is refracted (or bent) by ice crystals, making a 22 degree halo. A 22 degree halo is the most common. See the diagram below to better understand how the light is refracted and where the 22 degree angle comes from.

Weather folklore says that a halo around the sun or moon means bad weather is on the way. I've also heard the number of stars inside the halo indicates the number of days before the bad weather will arrive.

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jackpot 3 years, 3 months ago

My Grandfather said the number of stars inside the halo was the number of days till you got rain/snow. He say the "old timers" told him that when he was growing up in Chase Co. He was born in 1899.

cait48 3 years, 3 months ago

I have seen sun dogs, moon bows, thunder snow (twice!), the aurora borealis and double haloed moons. I know the science behind it but I have an Irish heritage that's a bit fey and when I see a haloed moon the first urge is to go look for a fairy ring.

Mel Briscoe 3 years, 3 months ago

"a ring around the moon means rain soon..."

old adage that has been proven accurate time and time again.

jenniflip 3 years, 3 months ago

It was beautiful, whether it means bad weather or not. I was wishing I could take a picture. Thanks for sending in the photos!

A20271 3 years, 3 months ago

Yeah! Thanks for this article because it was a little creepy, but now I know why I saw that. It was pretty neat!

LMH 3 years, 3 months ago

I saw the ring last night, and although remember seeing them as a younger person, never one quite so large and prominent. I pointed it out to my 4 year old grandson, who said ever-so-nonchalantly "yeah, I saw it" as he wandered inside... (heavy sigh...) Truly a beautiful sight!

del888 3 years, 3 months ago

I was told it was the halo around the Holy City of Basketball.

riverdrifter 3 years, 3 months ago

Yep. It was spectactular around midnight at my location.

jumpin_catfish 3 years, 3 months ago

No but a lot of people say I have a nice halo. Seriously way cool halo!

George_Braziller 3 years, 3 months ago

When they happened during the summer my grandfather called them "moon dogs" and said they predicted rain.

Azure_Attitude 3 years, 3 months ago

It was awesome. I've only seen a couple and this was a good one.

H_Lecter 3 years, 3 months ago

Show of hands, how many people see the ring and get the urge to allow the right side of the brain to have a few brief moments. Plunging the fingers into the palette of warm erythrocytic pigment and creating a life-size fresco or perhaps a taunting message for the luminologist. To be inspired by nature to create, to feel the passion of Michelangelo di Buonarroti, Leonardo da Vinci, Vincent van Gogh, Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn, or Ted Bundy.