Odd looking moon over El Paso TX tonight.

Hey everyone, was just looking out my window tonight and noticed that the moon is insanely bright and has a strange ring around it. I promise you that ring around it in the picture is not a lens flare.
Anyone know what is causing this? Thanks in advance!!

reply to post by Procession101


It's called a moon ring or halo...

en.wikipedia.org...

reply to post by Procession101


I dont know about Texas but in the North that means it's cold

There's a huge winter storm moving through the Texas area east. There's a lot of snow and ice in the area, which means a lot of ice crystals in the upper atmosphere.

reply to post by Procession101


Saw it here in NM as I walked the dogs tonight; along with some very strange chem/contrails and cloud formations.

It was bright enough out that I didn't need the flashlight.

reply to post by AwakeinNM


Awesome, thanks so much for the info. Being in the middle of the chihuahua desert I've never seen anything like it. It has been colder then I remember in recent time and I guess we can expect snow.

Nothing unusual about it, photographed it in the UK earlier with Jupiter (?) sat next to it, wonderful sight

reply to post by olaru12


No such thing as chemtrails (I know you also referenced contrails), Zaphod has got it right, cold air, ice crystals......lovely optical viewing.

Originally posted by Chadwickus
reply to post by Procession101

 

It's called a moon ring or halo...

en.wikipedia.org...

What he said.

[snip]

Not to mention the factual nature of my post.

Moon halos are one of my favorite things about going out at night in the winter. Ice can do amazing things.

Its not that cold in So Cal but I noticed it was pretty bright outside earlier. Some nights are just like that though, plus there are no clouds out.

reply to post by ReadyPower
Interesting, I'm in So Cal also and it's not that cold and I see the halo. It is colder this time of year, but never noticed the halo before.

reply to post by yesterdaysreality


It doesn't have to be cold at low altitudes. It's ice in the upper atmosphere that causes it. There's been a cold front moving through most of the US lately, that's left quite a bit of ice in the upper atmosphere. There has been thundersnow, tornadoes, and other odd weather today from Texas up to Maine.

Originally posted by woogleuk
reply to post by olaru12

 

No such thing as chemtrails (I know you also referenced contrails), Zaphod has got it right, cold air, ice crystals......lovely optical viewing.

There may be no such things as chemtrails, but there is such a thing called Geo-engineered weather or weather modification. Its also funny that you mentioned ice crystals because said weather modification uses a process called, "artificial ice nucleation".
What's that? See here- www.geoengineeringwatch.org...
China did it and publicly admitted it in 2007. www.guardian.co.uk...

Lastly, contrails dissipate behind the plane/jet as it flies in the air, this is normal and a very common occurrence in our skies. A weather modification plane spraying trails that make cross patterns. Long streaks which turn to a haze or cloud that mimics a smoke screen or dimming effect on the sun's glare/brightness. It also sometimes makes it rain/snow or not rain/snow. These are two completely different beasts, don't get it twisted.

Unfortunately OP, I cannot see the moon were I am at this evening. It would have been cool to snap my own shot of it.

Originally posted by Gerizo
China did it and publicly admitted it in 2007. www.guardian.co.uk...

It's simply cloud seeding to make it rain, during winter, so you get snow. It's the exact same thing as making it rain, which they've been doing for decades, by using silver iodide in clouds that are already there.

Originally posted by Zaphod58

Originally posted by Gerizo
China did it and publicly admitted it in 2007. www.guardian.co.uk...

It's simply cloud seeding to make it rain, during winter, so you get snow. It's the exact same thing as making it rain, which they've been doing for decades, by using silver iodide in clouds that are already there.

Did you read what I wrote? Perhaps you should read before posting?

reply to post by Gerizo


I read the article you posted, which clearly states:

A spokesman for the Tibet meteorological office said artificial snowfall was created by seeding the clouds with particles of silver iodide.

They've been doing that for years. China did it before the Olympics so that the weather would be good during the events.

As for your claims of contrails dissipating rapidly, that claim has been made a lot, and it's not always true. Contrails can linger for hours, and create cirrus cloud cover. And they'll criss cross, and create grids because of jetways that the planes are flying on.

Originally posted by Gerizo

 

Lastly, contrails dissipate behind the plane/jet as it flies in the air, this is normal and a very common occurrence in our skies. A weather modification plane spraying trails that make cross patterns. Long streaks which turn to a haze or cloud that mimics a smoke screen or dimming effect on the sun's glare/brightness. It also sometimes makes it rain/snow or not rain/snow. These are two completely different beasts, don't get it twisted.

Unfortunately OP, I cannot see the moon were I am at this evening. It would have been cool to snap my own shot of it.

Wrong, contrails don't always dissipate straight away, persistent contrails can last for quite a long time.

reply to post by Procession101


An old wives tale says that when you see a ring around the moon like that, there will be precipitation within 36 hours. Here in Kentucky, that seems to be fairly accurate.