Lunar Halo?

[Jnicholes]

Hi everyone,

I happened to be out observing the Andromeda galaxy, when clouds rolled in. I was really bummed, and I said to myself, “it’s the moonlight reflecting off the clouds that’s ruining the image. I then turned to the moon, getting ready to blame it, only to see this.

See that reddish ring?

Astonished at what I was seeing, I pulled out my phone camera and got a picture. I took multiple pictures, but this one is the best.

Question for you all. What happened? Why was there a ring around the moon? My best guess is that the cloud was so thin, and was over the moon just right, causing light to bend, making this effect.

Can someone help explain this?

More photos:

[pakarinen]

Ice crystals in the upper atmosphere. Same with sun dogs.

[Lady Fraktor]

If you watch the halo you can see that as temperatures drop putting more ice crystals in the air, the halo will be further away from the Moon.
A quick way to tell that it is going to be colder right away.

[Thefatkitty]

If you watch the halo you can see that as temperatures drop putting more ice crystals in the air, the halo will be further away from the Moon.
A quick way to tell that it is going to be colder right away.

So right; this is a shot I took earlier this year at -15C (5F). It didn't warm up either

Neat pics and good for you on seeing that!

All the best,