Coastal Karnataka treated to a lunar-halo spectacle

Mangalore, September 28: People across coastal Karnataka on Thursday night were treated to a surprise from the sky. A rainbow-like halo encircled the moon in a perfect circle. This triggered excitement across Mangalore and Udupi and drew people in large numbers out of homes.

Some elderly sky gazers recalled a similar halo which they witnessed in a few years ago. Although initially there was some confusion whether direct viewing of the spectacle would damage the eye, by 9:00pm people were at ease and they began gathering in open spaces where they could get a good view of the halo. However, the halo disappeared at around 10:30 pm.

"I felt really blessed to see the halo at 9.10 p.m. I was so excited that I took several pictures of the spectacle using my phone camera. It was a pleasant surprise," said Beevi Ashoora, a resident of Bendorewell in Mangalore.

"It looked like a silver ring around the moon. It was a pleasant night. I didn't feel any uneasiness despite direct exposure," said Ramya, a class 8 student.

Megha, a final year BBM student was literally spellbound by the celestial phenomenon. “Wow… it's beautiful,” she exclaimed standing on the terrace.

Amidst all the excitement, there was a moment of panic when media offices began receiving several calls asking whether it was a sign of the apocalypse or doomsday.

However, scientists said it was a normal phenomenon and there was nothing to worry about.

The lunar halo was caused by moonlight refracting through ice crystals in high-altitude cirrus clouds.

The thin clouds had hexagonal prism-shaped ice crystals bending the moonlight to 22 degrees, according to an astronomer. The halo can appear around the sun, or around any light source too, he said.

“It's an atmospheric phenomenon which just happens, something like hailstorm. It is caused by tiny ice crystals in the atmosphere,” said Dr A P Bhat an astronomy expert from Udupi.

Curious people had this question to ask: Does it foretell rain? “Not necessarily,” says S. Anand of a Kerala based amateur astronomy club. “It's just a beautiful phenomenon to watch in the sky. Anyway, this is the rainy season and any rain could be the result of the regular monsoon or the rain clouds.

There is a possibility of today's phenomenon occurring again if the same weather continues.