Offset Circles Around The Moon? 12/22/12 South Louisiana

Unfortunately I do not have a photo to provide as the camera on my phone didn't have a wide enough view, but there were 6 other people with me who saw it and I'm sure an actual photo will surface sooner or later.

Anyway what we saw was the moon with a large halo around it, which is very common. What's cool is there was a second halo, which is also common, but this one was the same size as the one around the moon, and it was offset to the side where the edge of the circle touched the edge of the moon.

I'm sure this has happened before and there's a logical explanation, but I feel so lucky to have seen it with my own eyes because that was the most amazing thing I've ever seen in the sky... simply amazing.

I just found this picture of the same phenomenon. It's close to what I saw, but the second halo was as big as the first, and like I said it's edge touched the edge of the moon rather than passing through the center.



Has anyone else here ever seen this before? Did anyone of you see this in south Louisiana tonight?

reply to post by Bone75


Had the same thing on the west coast. Very cool!

Originally posted by Soloro
reply to post by Bone75

 

Had the same thing on the west coast. Very cool!

Cool did you get to see it? Given the timing and all, that sh!t freaked me out. I went straight home

This video, posted to the thread about the Nuremberg UFO's might have a bit of helpful terminology that could be googled for more information. (Like "Parhelic circle")

Caused by Cirrus clouds a precursor to a hell of a storm. There was a halo around the moon pre-Sandy that was scene as far away as the Mid-west.

reply to post by Bone75


Whenever you have to take photos of a huge object or a large area, try to take lots of photos of different parts of the area/object.

That way you have lots of pieces that can be stitched together later. Better, you are likely to have a bunch of photos that can be uploaded immediately, and other people can do the stitching for you.

Also, it sometimes means that some of the many photos could be at slightly different angles, which can be used to give perspective, and allow more in-depth analysis.

Otherwise, I wish I'd been able to see something like that, sadly I missed it all tonight.

Originally posted by dampnickers
reply to post by Bone75

 

Whenever you have to take photos of a huge object or a large area, try to take lots of photos of different parts of the area/object.

That way you have lots of pieces that can be stitched together later. Better, you are likely to have a bunch of photos that can be uploaded immediately, and other people can do the stitching for you.

Also, it sometimes means that some of the many photos could be at slightly different angles, which can be used to give perspective, and allow more in-depth analysis.

Otherwise, I wish I'd been able to see something like that, sadly I missed it all tonight.

Good advice. One of my buddies snapped a couple of shots but he had the same problem. I'll look at them tomorrow and see if I've got enough to work with.

Originally posted by BABYBULL24
Caused by Cirrus clouds a precursor to a hell of a storm. There was a halo around the moon pre-Sandy that was scene as far away as the Mid-west.

Hmmm... Soloro says the same thing took place on the west coast, and I read on fb that someone saw it in Little Rock.

There's a decent sized storm in west Louisiana headed this way, and there is some activity off the west coast, but it looks like clear skies in Little Rock.

reply to post by Bone75


I think you got lucky and witnessed a very rare halo display. I've never come across the type of halo that you are describing, so there may be a chance that what you observed has not been documented by science before.

Spaceweather.com is reporting that some rare moon halos have recently been observed in the New Mexico area, so there may be a chance that what you saw is related:

ODD-RADIUS MOON HALOS: Many sky watchers have witnessed a halo around the moon--a ring of light that surrounds the lunar disk at a radius of 22 degrees. The phenomenon is caused by pencil-shaped ice crystals in cirrus clouds that bend moonlight. On Dec. 21st, Harald Edens of Magdalena, New Mexico, witnessed a rare double halo:

If you contact Les Cowley via his site atoptics.co.uk, he would probably be the most qualified person to give you an explanation. Let us know what he says if you do!

Originally posted by FireballStorm
reply to post by Bone75

 

I think you got lucky and witnessed a very rare halo display. I've never come across the type of halo that you are describing, so there may be a chance that what you observed has not been documented by science before.

Spaceweather.com is reporting that some rare moon halos have recently been observed in the New Mexico area, so there may be a chance that what you saw is related:

ODD-RADIUS MOON HALOS: Many sky watchers have witnessed a halo around the moon--a ring of light that surrounds the lunar disk at a radius of 22 degrees. The phenomenon is caused by pencil-shaped ice crystals in cirrus clouds that bend moonlight. On Dec. 21st, Harald Edens of Magdalena, New Mexico, witnessed a rare double halo:

If you contact Les Cowley via his site atoptics.co.uk, he would probably be the most qualified person to give you an explanation. Let us know what he says if you do!

Thanks for the info! I contacted Mr. Cowley and he provided me with this link. He said to substitute the sun for the moon and you have the same thing.
The images are beautiful and worth checking out.

The only discrepancy I have is that the parhelic circle I saw didn't intersect the moon, it touched the side of it. I'm not sure if that has any relevance, just being thorough.

reply to post by Bone75


You're welcome, and thank you for posting the reply/link. I was only looking at the same link a few weeks back!

I would never have thought that it was the parhelic, since it was so small compared with the 22 degree halo (at least in the image you posted). It does make sense though. I'm not sure why it wouldn't intersect the Moon too, but if Les says it's the parhelic, I'm sure he knows what he's talking about.

From Tucson AZ several people saw a large circle around the moon that night. No second offset halo though. And there was/is no storming in the area at all. I tried to capture it on camera but none of the pics I took came out. Honestly I've never seen a halo like that before it was quite stunning here in AZ.

Originally posted by BABYBULL24
Caused by Cirrus clouds a precursor to a hell of a storm. There was a halo around the moon pre-Sandy that was scene as far away as the Mid-west.

Looks like you were right. The front that just came through here was a doozy. Tornado warnings all day long. Lots of damage.

Hey this is good to know if we ever find ourselves without power.

Another Halo around the moon in southern AZ again tonight, but not so much as a drop of rain here. I'm not getting the link between moon halos and storm predictions.

Originally posted by Carreau
Another Halo around the moon in southern AZ again tonight, but not so much as a drop of rain here. I'm not getting the link between moon halos and storm predictions.

In my experience, there isn't a firm link. Although ice halos can sometimes precede bad weather, more often than not they don't.