*Moon Hello* on “_Star Himalaya_”

This cool sight of four moons in the sky was unique

The views of the sky nature are amazing and also unique. Don’t know when and how to be seen at which turn, which makes you tickle, just captivates your mind. One such sight was witnessed on the Manali-Leh highway last month. This scene was of Moon Hello. Surrounded by the unique circle of clouds, the moon seemed to be proud of its beauty. These moments were special and beautiful too. Even more special thing was that India’s famous astrophotographer Ajay Talwar and his wife Neelam Talwar were present there to introduce this sight to the world. Then after that this incident went on clicking one after the other. Mr. Ajay Talwar, who saw this incident with his own eyes, described something like this –

*Moon Hello* on “_Star Himalaya_”

Last month Neelam and I went to Palchan, a small place about 11 km north of Manali on the Manali-Leh highway. An amazing place to watch the night sky and take pictures. The Moon was high in the sky at dusk on March 30, the day before first quarter. As darkness fell, there were some high, thin clouds and we saw a spectacular Moon halo.

Moon halo is an atmospheric phenomenon. It is formed when light is refracted, reflected, and scattered through suspended ice crystals in cirrus or cirrostratus clouds. It is like a perfect circular rainbow with the moon in the center. The colors are not so obvious to the naked eye (as in a daytime rainbow), but need to be enhanced, as is done in this image.

Due to the geometry of its formation, the radius of the lunar aura is 22°. *Quite coincidentally the halo in this image is Mars on the outside and Procyon on the inside. Mars was seen at the top of the image (in the 12 o’clock direction) and at a distance of ~23°. Procyon in the constellation Canis Minor can be seen just inside the halo, 2 o’clock from the Moon, and at that time it was ~21° from the Moon.*

‘_Sitara Himalaya_’ is a wonderful new home-stay in Palchan, where we went to deliver and install a 12-inch aperture telescope. Another resort equipped with our telescope, where you can go and observe the night sky. Neelam and Ajay Talwar.

Source: Ajay Talwar.
Photo: Ajay and Neelam Talwar