Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Home sweet home~~
Sunday, November 1, 2009
The Halo..
"Unlike Saturn, which has actual, physical rings, the ring you can sometimes see around the moon is merely an optical illusion. It’s an effect of our own atmosphere that meteorologists call a “halo effect,” because diffracted light rays create a halo around a bright object.
Here’s how it works. Moon halos are caused by tiny ice crystals that have gathered twenty thousand feet above the ground, as thin, wispy clouds. These clouds are so thin, you might not notice them at night, if it weren’t for their effect on the moonlight. Incoming light rays from the moon are bent, or diffracted, by these ice crystals at an angle of 22 degrees. This means that in addition to the direct moonlight, you will also see diffracted moonlight in a circle 22 degrees away from the moon. This is about the distance of your fist, held at arm’s length. Like a rainbow, this halo can even be slightly colored; red on the inside, and blue on the outside."