Miscellaneous: Glory Around the Moon (April 2, 2012)

A beautiful halo of light around the moon tonight. Sometimes called a "glory," these rings of diffuse light are caused by ice crystals in the upper atmosphere. I've seen a similar phenomenon (from above, in an airplane) on the surface of a cloud layer, created by the sun--in which case the sun produces a bright halo around the shadow of the aircraft. Somewhat different, but much the same effect.