© Claudia Hinz
Mt Wendelstein, Germany
Latitude: 47° 42' 10'' N
Longitude: 12° 0' 44'' E
14 February 2008 2219 (Local Time)
Image P/S code: P.13.2
Image I.D.: 4091
A corona is one or more sequences of small-diameter coloured rings centred on the Sun or Moon. It is caused by the diffraction of light passing through mist, fog or thin cloud composed of very small water drops or ice particles.
This picture, taken from Mt. Wendelstein (1835 m) in the Bavarian Alps, Germany, shows a lunar corona formed by the diffraction of the moonlight through thin orographic cloud that formed over the summit. The central part of the corona around the Moon is intensely bright, with a distinct reddish-brown edge, called the aureole. Surrounding this are the coloured rings. In each sequence band, the inside is violet or blue, the outside is red and other colours such as green and yellow occur in between.
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In this night-time image, the thin layer of medium-level cloud through which the moon is visible is Altocumulus stratiformis translucidus. On the left edge, there are gaps between the cloud elements, making this also the variety perlucidus. The optical phenomenon surrounding the moon is the aureole of a lunar corona.
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This photograph shows a poorly developed corona formed around a full Moon where only the inner part (the aureole) is seen. The aureole is the bright, bluish-white disk around the Moon, with a reddish-brown outer edge. It appears rather ragged in shape due to gaps in the cloud sheet at 4 and 5.
The aureole was caused by the diffraction of moonlight through the thin, translucent cloud (Stratocumulus stratiformis translucidus) , which was composed of a wide variety of droplet sizes. Only when the cloud particles are uniform in size are one or more of the coloured outer rings visible.
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This picture shows small-diameter coloured rings around the Moon; this is known as a corona. The corona was caused by the diffraction of moonlight passing through very small water drops of similar size in a thin layer of cloud.
The central part of the corona around the Moon is bright with a distinct reddish-brown edge called the aureole. Surrounding this are sequences of coloured rings, each with red on the outside and colours from green through to blue/violet on the inside.
Links in the image description will highlight features on the image. Mouse over the features for more detail.