Halo Moon

Last night we saw the halo moon, but, unfortunately, I didn’t take any picture of it. It is because my phone battery was running out.

We were on the way out from Pizza San Francisco, when Zaki spotted the moon. He pointed it out to us, and every one of us was excited to see the moon. It was very clear and beautiful.

Syafiq was curious and wanted to know more about the halo moon. The moment here reached home he logged and searched for information.  After a while, he came to Zara’s room and told me that normally there would be a disaster.

I don’t want to confirm what he said. The only thing I said to him was that this is not the first time it happened. He still worried.

After that, I didn’t give much thought about it until lunch time today, when one of my colleagues talked about it. He managed to take a picture of the halo moon and explained to us how it happened.

It pricked my curiosity, and during my free time this evening, I google about it. Wow, there’s a lot of people blog about.  In fact, the whole country is talking about the halo moon..

So what is this halo moon and how does it happen?  This is what I get from the Indiana Public Media website -  http://indianapublicmedia.org.

Moon halos are caused by tiny ice crystals that have gathered twenty thousand feet above the ground, as thin, wispy clouds. These clouds are so thin; you might not notice them at night, if it weren’t for their effect on the moonlight. Incoming light rays from the moon are bent or diffracted by these ice crystals at an angle of 22 degrees.

This means that, in addition to the direct moonlight, you will also see diffracted moonlight in circle 22 degrees away from the moon. This is about the distance of your fist, held at arm’s length.

Like a rainbow, this halo can even be slightly colored; red on the inside, and blue on the outside.

There’s also a belief that something will happen to earth when this happened.  Whether it is true, only Allah knows. Wallahualam.