26 Jan 2013 Alaskan Moondogs
This image was taken in Miller Creek, Alaska, on January 17th. This moon is in its first quarter phase and clearly has a halo around it in the sky. This halo was created by ice crystals which are falling in the atmosphere and create a giant lens reflecting the light from the moon. On the left and right, moondogs can be seen. They are similar to sundogs but are created by the moon reflecting light on icy crystals in the atmosphere. The scientific name for this apparition is paraselenae. The moon must be observed from an angle equal to or greater than 22 degrees and the ice crystals must be of hexagonal shape for moondogs to be visible.
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