Comments on: A warm greeting for the frigid Moon

By: Matt B.

Matt B. — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 18:32:40 +0000

@10 Nigel, ‘Calling them “rainbows” is misleading, because a rainbow forms around tha antisolar point’

Well, this is formed around the anti-lunar point, just with a radius of more than 90 degrees.

By: Sanjay

Sanjay — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 17:21:40 +0000

Thanks Nigel, for your answer. I owe you a good solid Thai massage, whenever you get here.
Not that I’m going to give it to you myself, mind you

By: Brian Too

Brian Too — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 00:56:31 +0000

@9. Daniel J. Andrews,

I’m plausibly close to Yellowknife, about 600 km, and I have to say that there just isn’t that much snow this year. The winter has been very mild and there’s much less snow than normal.

Quite a contrast to last year, which brought snow, and more snow, and still more snow, well, you get the idea.

By: John H

John H — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 14:16:08 +0000

I remember deriving the minimum angle of deviation for ice crystals for an assignment in my first optics course. It was one of those moments of revelation that connect something beautiful with the underlying reasons for it’s appearance, and makes the whole phenomenon more fascinating.

By: Nigel Depledge

Nigel Depledge — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 09:52:50 +0000

Oh, and -
Brilliant pics!

By: Nigel Depledge

Nigel Depledge — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 09:51:53 +0000

Sanjay (7) said:

Brilliant pics!
I’ve seen these moon rainbows many times, but once over the warm seas of Thailand, I saw a complete circular rainbow around the noon-day sun. Can someone explain how that happens?
Is it possible that there are ice-crystals in the sky even on the tropics?

Yeah. Calling them “rainbows” is misleading, because a rainbow forms around tha antisolar point (opposite the sun) and an icebow or Halo forms around the moon or the sun.

It’s exactly the same mechanism whether around the moon or the sun – refraction in ice crystals in the upper atmosphere, and, yes, the stratosphere is pretty damn cold above the tropics as well.

By: Daniel J. Andrews

Daniel J. Andrews — Sat, 10 Mar 2012 16:01:44 +0000

For me, the most striking thing about the photograph are the depth of the tracks in the snow. I’ve spent the last two months snow-shoeing on various surveys up north and even on good sites we sank halfway to our knees. He didn’t sink into the snow very much at all. Perhaps the wind has scoured the snow away, or a strong crust has formed in the open, or he’s on a well-packed trail that was just covered by fresh snow…?

By: kat wagner

kat wagner — Sat, 10 Mar 2012 05:27:28 +0000

Oooo, love these pix! A couple weeks ago I got a few shots of the tail end of a whole group of rainbow clouds kind of clustered around the sun – I had never seen that before. I have a bunch of photos of rainbow circles around the sun, even double ones. But I’d never seen those rainbow clouds before. I thought I was seeing things! I mean, you know what I mean.

Here’s where: /http://www.flickr.com/photos/blueglacier/6945777547/

By: Sanjay

Sanjay — Sat, 10 Mar 2012 04:12:32 +0000

Brilliant pics!
I’ve seen these moon rainbows many times, but once over the warm seas of Thailand, I saw a complete circular rainbow around the noon-day sun. Can someone explain how that happens?
Is it possible that there are ice-crystals in the sky even on the tropics?

By: Messier Tidy Upper

Messier Tidy Upper — Sat, 10 Mar 2012 00:55:51 +0000

Stunning photos there. Love’em – thanks!