Full Moon Aureole Over Toronto
June 18, 2010
Photographer: Andrew Yee
Summary Author: Andrew Yee
On December 1, 2009 as the full Moon ascended over Toronto, Canada, a layer of altostratus clouds moved in and produced a remarkable aureole. Water droplets in these clouds, perhaps along with ice crystals, scattered and diffracted the moonlight. The interference of the diffracted light waves formed the aureole, which sports a bluish inner ring and an orange-yellow outer ring.
A full Moon is so bright that normally an image showing rings or arcs about it would have the Moon itself overexposed. However, the cloud layer on this occasion was just thick enough to greatly reduce the brightness of the moonlight, offering an unusual opportunity to photograph the aureole and the full Moon in a single exposure.
Photo Details:
Camera Maker: NIKON CORPORATION; Camera Model: NIKON D90; Lens: 70.0-210.0 mm f/4.0-5.6; Image Date: 2009-12-01 17:52:33 -0500; Focal Length: 70.0mm (35mm equivalent: 105mm); Aperture: f/8.0; Exposure Time: 1.000 s; ISO equiv: 1000; Exposure Bias: -1.00 EV; Metering Mode: Matrix; Exposure: Manual; Exposure Mode: Manual; White Balance: Manual; Light Source: Fine Weather; Flash Fired: No; Color Space: sRGB