Something amazing in the sky the other night

Not sure where to post this one but its related to astronomy so I figured this would be the closest.

Down here in central texas the night sky was looking quite interesting a couple of nights ago. I dont have a picture so bear with me.

It looked like a bunch of thin clouds formed a perfect, and i mean perfect as in size and shape, circle around the moon pretty well sized too. Inside the circle was pitch black except the moon which was right in the dead center and the clouded area was white and fromed streaks throughout the sky....

Anyone know what this is?

Not absolutely sure I follow your description, but there is an atmospheric phenomena especially prevalent during full moons. High cirrus clouds, very thin to the point of transparency in the dark float in front of the full moon. The reflected light from the moon backlights the clouds, making them semi-opaque, except for immediately under the moon where the light is the brightest.

The result is a ghostly "halo" around the full moon.

Dont know if this is what you are describing?

The same thing happened in arizona. I went outside about a week ago, and i looked up into the night sky. There was this perfect circular cloud around the moon. There was only the outline of a circle, the inside of the cloud was see through. The moon looked like it was in the center of the circular cloud. I look up into the sky almost every night, and i have never seen any thing like this before. I layed on my hamick and looked up at the cloud, and i got a weird feel about it.

It is strange that that two people saw the same thing in different states. If any one could find info about this i would greatly appreciate it. I wish i had taken a picture.

Thatoneguy=Central Texas
Ilovepizza=Arizona

A few hundred miles apart, but relatively close all considered. At approximately the same lattitude, and considering that there was a weak weather front moving across the southwest the last couple of nights.... not a mystery.

I do agree though, pretty spooky to look at (I have seen it before)

Here is what you are describing (I think)

www.sundog.clara.co.uk...


Pic

no mine was different than that. There were no clouds in the middle of it just see through. Also there was no rainbow on the circular part of the cloud.

It was more of a circle, whit the outline perfect. There were no clouds overlaping the outline like in the picture.

Perhaps you are having a flashback from a time spent on the operating table? No ok, I have seen many changes that the moon has been through. I have seen a blue moon a blood moon, and have seen double triple and quadruple rings around it. The moon and its reflection of light will continue to awe our simple race until we cease. As it has from our dawn.

[Edited on 18-4-2003 by ADVISOR]

I dont think i saw any what any of you are describing. I dont know what it was, but it didnt seem weather related. It seemed unatural to me. I just got this weird vive from it when i was staring at it.

Originally posted by Thatoneguy
Not sure where to post this one but its related to astronomy so I figured this would be the closest.

Down here in central texas the night sky was looking quite interesting a couple of nights ago. I dont have a picture so bear with me.

It looked like a bunch of thin clouds formed a perfect, and i mean perfect as in size and shape, circle around the moon pretty well sized too. Inside the circle was pitch black except the moon which was right in the dead center and the clouded area was white and fromed streaks throughout the sky....

Anyone know what this is?

I found the following explanation on the NASA website pages: antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov...
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Explanation: Have you ever seen a halo around the Moon? This fairly common sight occurs when high thin clouds containing millions of tiny ice crystals cover much of the sky. Each ice crystal acts like a miniature lens. Because most of the crystals have a similar elongated hexagonal shape, light entering one crystal face and exiting through the opposing face refracts 22 degrees, which corresponds to the radius of the Moon Halo. A similar Sun Halo may be visible during the day. The town in the foreground of the above picture is San Sebastian, Spain. The distant planet Jupiter appears by chance on the halo's upper right. Exactly how ice-crystals form in clouds remains under investigation.

That may be what i saw, but i think what i saw was different. I dont remember seeing any rainbow in the circle, and if there were ice crystals in it i would have seen a rainbow. Both pictures show the rainbow colors in the circle, and i am pretty sure there wasnt one in the circle i saw.

You say it was last week sometime? This was Monday the 14th or it may have been tuesday but i think it was monday.

Didnt look like that picture there was no rainbow thing which im guessing is caused by the light from the moon going to the ice crystals like a prism.

The clouds were the same color. Inside the circle was nothing like the picture. It was completely black and it wasnt a full moon either.

And the clouds made a trail allthroughout the sky unlike in that picture. Kind of streaked throughout the sky all the way to the horizon.

Wish I had a camera.

I saw what thatoneguy saw, not the pictures that were posted.

If neither of us saw what the pictures showed than what did we see. I dont normaly get spooked out, but this circle was spooky. I really want to know what i saw.

Was is simular to this
antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov...

Should have posted this instead... antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov...

The moon wasnt full like it is on all of the pictures. There also was no rainbow colors.