Amateur sky-watcher captures rare ‘lunar halo’ from his £10,000 garden observatory

By
Rob Waugh

Last updated at 10:37 PM on 4th January 2012

Professor Greg Parker, 57, captured a stunning image of a ‘lunar halo’ from the £10,000 observatory he built in his garden in the New Forest on
Monday.

Professor Parker said that he has been stargazing since he was a child, and has only seen one halo before, and it was nothing like this.

The effect is caused  by light refracting off millions of ice crystals in the air.

Stargazer Professor Greg Parker captured a rare 'lunar halo' - an optical effect caused by light refracting off millions of ice crystals in the clouds of the night sky

Stargazer Professor Greg Parker captured a rare ‘lunar halo’ – an optical effect caused by light refracting off millions of ice crystals in the clouds of the night sky. Professor Parker, 57, says he has been stargazing since he was young, and has only seen a halo once before

The amateur astronomer is a professor of electronics at
Southampton University and built the £10,000 pounds observatory at his home in
Brockenhurst, Hants.

He said: ‘It was a clear night and I just happened to look
up and see the incredible ring around the moon.

‘I ran to get my camera and took some snaps.

‘I’ve been stargazing since I was child and I’ve only ever
seen one lunar halo before and it was not as extraordinary as this.’

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Ive seen one of those I didn’t know there were so rare.

Nice photo and good observation, but hardly needs a £10,000 (pounds!!!) observatory, the photo was obviously taken from his back garden !

The professor is to be congratulated on the stunning photograph however I dispute the description of this event as ‘rare’. I see lunar halos several times a year and they are probably no less frequent than halos around the sun – it’s just that most of us do not go outside at night on the frosty cold nights that these phenomena form in. Perhaps Prof Parker needs to get out more, because seeing two in 57 years is unlucky! (not sure, by the way, why the DM write ‘lunar halo’. It does not require parenthesis as it’s a recognised term)

These are in no way rare – they can happen on any very cold night and do frequently.

These are rare? Didn’t realize that-I’ve seen them quite a few times!

I would just like to point out that you do not need an observatory or any special equipment to view this phenomenon as we have had the same lunar halo visible over the East Riding for the last couple of nights, in fact there was a mention of it on tonights BBC Look North.

Good picture,lucky to get one so bright considering the Moon isn’t full yet

It’s not rare, it’s high cloud ice crystals reflecting the light from the moon. It indicates another weather system is on it’s way.

I wouldn’t call him an Amateur if he’s spent £10k on equipment!

I don’t know about over there, but over here it’s known as “a ring around the moon.” My Cherokee grandmother always said it was a sign of snow coming. Keep a watch as the nights progress and the “ring” actually gets smaller in diameter, closing in around the moon. It’s best to make preparations for snow though, just to be on the safe side.

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