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Today has been a wonderful day in terms of atmospheric optics. We are in
the middle
of an InterTropical Convergence Zone the past few days, with a lot of
"disturbed"
clouds. Several cloud types have been with us the past few days, and they
have
dumped some rainfall during the afternoons and early evening, but nothing
quite so
dramatic in terms of halo displays or atmospheric optics.
This morning, though, there was a half rainbow (right half only) at about
7 a.m.
The clouds took over after that, and there were nimbus clouds covering a
great portion
of the sky. There was a short segment when the sun could be faintly seen
against a
wide swath of white clouds. A short arc from a normal halo was present
for
a short
while (a few minutes), but nothing spectacular.
Intermittent rains were the order of the rest of the day, including early
evening.
At about 11 p.m., I looked outside, and lo and behold, a large lunar halo
could be
seen around the waning (but almost full) moon. The large halo was white
with a
tinge of red in the inner ring, and dark inside. The halo and the dark
inner
portion were fabulous, what with several patchy white clouds also in the
area.
The moon could be only faintly seen, as the whole halo and the moon were
inside
a large patch of hazy clouds. The halo is not as colorful or intense as
the
February
1996 event that Marko saw a while back, yet a full lunar halo is not
something you
can get to see often, although it has been twice this year that I've seen
it.
The halo is being disrupted now as a band of cumulus clouds are passing by
and there
is already a break in the cloud cover, what with Orion and Canis Major
already
showing up in the cloud break.
Sometimes the sky really opens up for a show!
Jun
Jun Lao <antares_at_pworld.net.ph>
Philippine Astronomical Society
Manila 14.5N 121E
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