17/12/13 In the early hours of this morning (Tuesday) a truly celestial halo around the moon hangs above St Oswald's Church in Ashbourne, Derbyshire.
17/12/13 In the early hours of this morning (Tuesday) a truly celestial halo around the moon hangs above St Oswald's Church in Ashbourne, Derbyshire. With this one perhaps resembling a giant festive bauble, halos are a sign of high thin cirrus clouds drifting 20,000 feet or more above our heads. There’s an old weather saying: 'ring around the moon means rain soon'. There’s truth to this saying, because high cirrus clouds often come before a storm. These clouds contain millions of tiny ice crystals. They are caused by both refraction, or splitting of light, and also by reflection, or glints of light from these ice crystals. The crystals have to be oriented and positioned just so with respect to your eye, in order for the halo to appear. St Oswald's dominates the town with its 212-foot spire which was referred to by George Eliot as the "finest single spire in England" All Rights Reserved - F Stop Press +44 (0) 1335 300098
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Photo credit: © Rod Kirkpatrick / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
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Keywords: ashbourne, bow, christmas, derbyshire, fsp, fstoppress, halo, haloes, halos, luna, moon, moonbow, oswalds, press, ring, st, standalone, stop, weather
