Saturday, October 8, 2022

'Lunar halo' visible in Bohol

A lunar halo appears in the skies of Tagbilaran City, Bohol on Friday, Oct. 7, 2022. Leo Udtohan/Inquirer Visayas
by Leo Udtohan

Residents here were treated for lunar 'moon halo' phenomenon that illuminated the skies on Friday (Oct. 7) and Sunday (Oct. 9) nights. 

Some residents went outside to see the lunar halo that just appeared after mant months. 

Charles Jade Pesguira, 23, a resident of Barangay Booy, Tagbilaran City, wasn't  surprised to see the moon ring. 

"It's wonderful," said Pesguira who last saw the moon ring last September when he was in Malate, Manila. 

The Farmers' Almanac said a lunar halo just like sun halo is caused by the refraction, reflection, and dispersion of light through ice particles suspended within thin, wispy, high altitude cirrus or cirrostratus clouds. 

"As light passes through these hexagon-shaped ice crystals, it is bent at a 22 degree angle, creating a halo 22 degrees in radius (or 44 degrees in diameter)," it said. 

Weather lore says a lunar halo is the precursor of impending unsettled weather, especially during the winter months, Farmers' Almanac added. This is often proved true, as cirrus and cirrostratus clouds generally precede rain and storm systems.

Even Inday Charity, a Tagbilaran-based occultist, clarified that in general, there is no Wiccan or other Neopagan magical correspondence related to the lunar halo. 

Lunar halos are, in fact, actually fairly common, Farmers' Almanac said. 





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