Lunar Ring & Wolf Moon

The other night I walked outside into the warm, almost spring-like air, looked up to gaze at the moon and saw an amazing thing - a Lunar Ring circling the moon!

Just as you see in the above photo, the moon appears to have a ring around it. This phenomenon is called a Lunar Halo.

The Anatomy of a Lunar Halo:   
                          A Halo is the result of moonlight reflecting off of millions of tiny ice crystals within thin cirrus clouds, about 20,000 ft above your head. Depending on your position/angle in respect to the moon, each person's view of a Lunar Halo is unique!



Click here to listen to a Lunar Halo audio clip

So far this New Year 2012 I have seen four nights of Lunar Halos of varying degrees! I captured a few on camera, which I may upload later :)

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FULL WOLF MOON

The first full moon of the New Year is upon us!!

In myth and folklore the full moon of each month is given a name. There are many variations, but in the USA the following list gives the most widely known names:

• January - Wolf moon
• February - Ice moon
• March - Storm moon
• April - Growing moon
• May - Hare moon
• June - Flower moon
• July - Hay moon
• August - Corn moon
• September - Harvest moon
• October - Hunter's moon
• November - Snow moon
• December - Winter moon

January marks the Wolf Moon - "Native Americans chose this name because they heard hungry wolf packs howl outside the villages. This full moon is also known as the Old Moon or the Moon After Yule."

Wolf Moon


 Interesting facts about wolves and the moon:

The connection between wolves howling "at" the moon is not scientifically proven, but it is possible wolves are more vocal during a full moon, simply because they may be out and about more due to the fact they can see better with moonlight. Wolves howl up towards the sky to pronounce their sound over a greater distance. During winter months, wolves are known to howl more frequently because this is their mating season. Also, in the winter months we are able to notice the moon better than other seasons because there's less cloud coverage and the moon's positioning is grouped with other bright star clusters, drawing our eye to it.

 Owwwwww!!!!!! Happy Wolf Moon!