When the sky is clear, and the moon hangs low in the horizon, you can sometimes spot a halo around it, like the one captured in this image from Hug Point Falls on the Oregon coast. And occasionally within that halo, you may also see a bright spot that appears to be a second moon. No, it"s not the moon"s long-lost twin, but an optical phenomenon called a paraselene, more commonly referred to as a moon dog or mock moon. This "false" moon can appear when the real moon is at least a quarter visible and is bright enough for its light to refract off hexagonal plate-shaped ice crystals floating in the atmosphere. Moon dogs are more commonly seen in winter months, when ice crystals are more prevalent in the clouds.
What s going on in this sky?
Today in History
More Desktop Wallpapers:
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Last stop before leaving the solar system
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Struck by Southwestern beauty
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Tasiilaq, Greenland
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Remembering the Arizona
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The story of the poinsettia
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Fall comes to the Last Frontier
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Eye of the cave
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75th anniversary of the Spruce Goose
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A bull, some flowers, and a stratovolcano
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We stand with Ukraine
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Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah
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Commemorating peace in Antarctica
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Going with the floe
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Wychwood Forest, Oxfordshire, England
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Satellite image of sand and seaweed in the Bahamas
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Bridges to the past
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Hello, spring!
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Maloja, Switzerland
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It’s Siblings Day!
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Amelia Earhart
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National Lighthouse Day
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Adorable activism
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Summer solstice
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Bridge of Sighs in Venice, Italy
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A polar bear near Churchill, Manitoba, Canada
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A growing business
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Napping away New Year s Day
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St. Patricks Day in County Waterford, Ireland
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Whale hello there!
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Channel Country, Australia