Walking back from the car just 10 minutes ago (it’s 00.05 on the 9/12/11) I looked up at the moon and noticed a very visible and clear circle around the moon. I popped inside and got my camera. Now, the technical qualities of the photograph aren’t necessarily great, but hand-held for 2.5 seconds I don’t think is too bad. Unusually for a photograph you can actually see the phenomenon better in a small version of the picture but feel free to click the image to see a larger version:
As it turns out, and with a little research on Google, this is actually a moon ring, formed by the refraction of Moonlight from ice crystals in the upper atmosphere. Amazing what you see if you just look! Folklore has it that this is a harbinger of bad weather – brace yourselves 😉
