Moon Halo Explained: Is the Moon’s Ring Real or Just an Optical Illusion?

Have you seen the moon with a halo? The lunar halo is a sight to behold, but this is just an optical illusion because the moon has no actual halo.

Moon Halo Explained

The lunar or moon halo is an optical illusion that gives the moon a big, dazzling ring around it. The refraction of moonlight by ice crystals in the high atmosphere creates this remarkable and frequently stunning halo around the moon.

A lunar halo is produced when light is reflected, diffused, and refracted via ice crystals floating in clouds of cirrus or cirrostratus at an altitude of 20,000 feet (6,000 meters) and higher, up to 40,000 feet (12,000 meters).

These ice crystals' shape concentrates light to form a halo around the sun or moon. Due to the hexagonal nature of ice crystals, lunar halos are consistently the same size. The moon, or sun, is positioned 22 degrees from the other edge of the halo or about the width of an arm's length outstretched.

Both solar and lunar halos are commonly referred to as 22-degree halos due to their constant 22-degree radius and 44-degree diameter.

Because ice has a particular index of reflection and ice crystals are hexagonal in structure, they create prisms with a 60-degree apex angle when their sides are stretched—this uniformity in diameter results from these properties. As a result, light traveling through the ice crystal has a minimum deviation angle of 21.84 degrees.

Similar to the atmospheric process that produces a rainbow, these ice crystals also exhibit a prism effect that divides white light from the sun or is reflected by the moon into numerous unique hues.

The effect is so strong that it has spawned a plethora of superstitions and folktales, and it has been partially successful in foretelling the arrival of inclement weather.

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Jupiter's Ring and Moon Captured in Stunning Photo

Jupiter, the seventh planet, looked festive enough for the holidays in the fresh images that the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) recently released. The magnificent picture depicts the planet, and its outer and inner rings, including the elusive Zeta ring, are on full display. In the picture, nine of its 27 moons are also visible.

The five main moons of Uranus-Ariel, Miranda, Oberon, Titania, and Umbriel-are seen in the larger picture. On the other hand, certain smaller and fainter moons, including those embedded in the rings, are visible in the cropped image.

The sight impressed a few internet users. The image was described as "amazing" by Mathew Scott McMillan, who was unaware of Uranus' beauty or its spectacular array of colorful rings.

A different user claimed that the image of Uranus, with its unique vertical rings, seemed like a "portal to another dimension."

NASA claims that the recently taken images clearly show Uranus's seasonal north polar cap and its spectacular storms below and at its southern border. If humanity are to send a spacecraft for a closer inspection, they must be able to navigate through debris from Uranus' rings.