Moon Halo
Astronomical Photo Album on the Web |
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To foster interests of the public on astronomy, the Hong Kong Space Museum and the Hong Kong Observatory cooperate to compile an astronomical photo album on the web. Various kinds of astronomical photos are taken with the iObservatory at Lady MacLehose Holiday Village of the Space Museum, telescopes of the Observatory and other instruments or from the general public, and are publicized through the Observatory's website. |
Moon Halo |
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Photo taken on 1 September 2012 by Matthew Chin |
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Moon Halo is an optical phenomenon formed by the refraction or reflection of moon light by the ice crystals suspended in the atmosphere, occurring usually when the sky is covered by cirrostratus or thick cirrus. The most commonly observed moon halo is in the form of a luminous ring of 22 degrees radius surrounding the moon with the brightness inside the ring less than that outside the ring. The ring, if faint, is white in colour; if strong, a ring in red in the inner flank and yellow in the outer flank can be observed. |
