A Lunar Corona with Jupiter and Saturn
Image Credit & Copyright:
Alessandra Masi
Why does a cloudy moon sometimes appear colorful?
The effect, called a lunar
corona,
is created by the quantum mechanical
diffraction of light around individual, similarly-sized water droplets in an
intervening
but mostly-transparent cloud.
Since light of different colors has
different wavelengths,
each color diffracts differently.
Lunar Coronae are one of the few
quantum mechanical color effects that can be
easily seen with the unaided eye.
Solar coronae are also sometimes evident.
The featured composite image was captured a few days before the
close
Great
Conjunction
between
Saturn
and
Jupiter
last
month.
In the foreground, the
Italian village of
Pieve
di
Cadore
is visible in front of the
Sfornioi Mountains.