Strange sky halos... can anyone identify this?

I wasn't sure where to put this. I thought about Space Exploration, but being that it seems to be more of an atmospheric phenomenon, that didn't seem right. I'm pretty sure it's natural and not something other worldly, so Aliens and UFO's didn't work. Basically, there are beautiful halos and rings in the night sky. The information available doesn't say where the pictures were taken. This is the first time I've ever seen anything like this before, assuming that it is real and not shopped. Can anyone identify this or know what causes it?





Source

There are more photos on the source page and they are beautiful!

These pictures have been doctored.

Sky halos occur on cloudy nights when the moon is bright and the light from the moon comes into the atmosphere in a certain way.

Nothing supernatural or crazy about this. I've seen them many times.

Ice crystals
Those halos are common in the winter in the north
Beautiful pics

reply to post by gemineye


It's caused by ice crystals in the upper atmosphere.

earthsky.org...

reply to post by MentorsRiddle


I've seen the halo around the moon before ... quite often actually, and didn't suspect anything supernatural at all. I just had never seen the rings to the sides. If they've been doctored, that's fair enough. I was hoping they weren't and thought someone may know more about this, if they are indeed legit.

Hi, they are really nice photos. I was told on another thread that these halos are caused by tiny ice crystals of just the right size. I think they have to be all one size to get a halo, if they're different sizes you get a rainbow. That may only apply to sun halos though.

(This)
should answer your questions all perfectly natural.

Great pictures, but I do thing they have been enhanced!

Moondogs and Moon Halos occur in the same way as Sundogs and Sun Halos

www.atoptics.co.uk...

At Levi fell, outskirts of the town of Sirkka

yle.fi...


Pauli Hännisen perhe ihastelee haloilmiötä Muoniontiellä Sirkassa. Kuva: Pauli Hänninen

there,, contact the guy.

Pauli Hänninen lähti perheensä kanssa ottamaan asiasta selvää ja ajoi kylän laitamille havaintoja tekemään.


Halos in Finnish Lapland

reply to post by BobAthome


Levi is popular skiing resort in Finland, those halos were caused by snow blasting cannons they use ( many of them ) temperature were -10 degrees of celsius and weather was moist ( due snow blasting ).

We see these quite often too as there is skiing resort close to us too.. nothing weird here.

reply to post by dollukka


your talking too a Canadian,,ya snow blasting cannons,,

yes ive even skied,,once!,, maybe u can sell these snow cannons,, yes they are real,,too the Russians,,,from what i hear,, there stowing, snow,,all those record temp,, play havoc on the ski sports,,ie Olympics.

ohh back too reality,,from the perspective of the pictures,,,wow.
very,very, much too see here.
understanding,,well...

Sun dogs.

Weird name real effect. check it out google it

reply to post by gemineye


Thanks to everyone for the info and the links! I've seen the halos around the moon for my whole life, pretty much. I knew about the ice crystals and such, but had never seen anything quite like this. I was actually hoping that this was real and hadn't been shopped, but I suppose that it likely has been. I was hoping someone could confirm that these were legit and hadn't been tampered with in anyway, simply because it would be awesome for such a sight to be real! Still beautiful pics, but since the general consensus is that they've been enhanced, I suppose I'll go with that. I'm familiar with sun dogs too, but not "moon dogs," although that sounds cooler, haha! Thanks to all of you and Happy Halloween!

Sorry but everyone here is WRONG! According to Ancient Astronaut Theorist this object is Nibiru showing itself from it's different dimension.

A sun halo or sundog and the less familiar moon halo or moondog are really not that uncommon. I am always so surprised by the reaction of people to something they could see just by looking up. Then I am even more surprised that people think this to be abnormal or mysterious...

reply to post by abeverage


which once again proves that age old expression,,,beauty is in the eye of the person whose head it is in.

Why are people talking about moon halos and calling these photos fake?

Those are breathtakingly beautiful and very real. They are a combination of several naturally occurring phenomenon's.

Sun halo, sun dog, pillar and a coupe of different arches. Read about them here:
Follow links here to learn about different arches


I have had the pleasure of photographing numerous halos and even some rare combinations of halo/dogs/arches and a fire rainbow. I have a thread here somewhere. Here are some of my own pictures taken near my house.

reply to post by westcoast


Beautiful photo's. Thanks for posting.

reply to post by gemineye


These are Sun Dogs. They are caused by ice crystals high in the sky refracting the sun. You find them more at the higher and lower latitudes. I saw one once in North West Scotland and it was just like the picture. I do not think the picture has been enhanced..