Moonbow?- A Beautiful Sight

There was a beautiful rainbow coloured ring surrounding the moon tonight. I noticed it when I came home from skating. I tried to take some photos but alas my photography skills leave much to be desired. The lack of a camera that is good in low light conditions and lack of tripod may also have had something to do with it.

This pic I found on Google images best represents what I saw, Lovely!

My favourite photo of the night wasn't a total loss. It doesn't do my night sky justice but I kinda find it  reminiscent of an impressionist painting.

Upon further review I was surprised to find one of my pictures did at least hint of the rainbow colours that were visible in the night sky. Hah! who need a fancy camera or tripod now! A steady hand and a vehicle side mirror will do in a pinch.



I really shouldn't call it a moonbow. A quick wikipedia search told me the technical term is a 22° halo or moonring. Follow the links if you want more info but the accompanying articles are a little sparse.

Interestingly enough folklore says that it is a sign of a coming winter storm and that if I counted the stars within the ring that would be the number of days before the impending storm. With the kind of winter we have been having one can only wish. Whether or not that is true time will only tell but for some reason all this talk of moons has Cat Steven's "Moonshadow" stuck in my head. This song always reminds me of a funny university memory. I had a friend who wanted to start a band. She thought this would be an excellent song to add to our repertoire which also included Amazing Grace. She played the ukelele and had found a violinist, pianist and vocalist, she wanted me to be the star clarinetist and figured we should call ourselves Death Tongue. Clearly we were destined for greatness.

Hope you enjoy the following YouTube link and your own moongazing.

p.s. I looked at a bunch of youtube vids for this song and though the sound quality isn't as good as some of the other ones I loved this clip for the fantastic 70's attire!