On my way out of the house last night I happened to look up at the sky. Expecting to see a clear night sky, I saw something I’ve never witnessed. A weird “moon halo”. I was mystified by it and couldnt turn away, it was so cool and eerie. I qiuckly took my iPhone out to take a snapshot but, alas no luck since it was almost pitch black and the only light source was the moon. A small bright dot in the middle of the picture was all I saw. I tweeted about it & ran back in the house to grab my DSLR camera.

Back outside and holding the camera as still as I could I took some shots of the moon and its halo. At first I couldnt get the right exposure but after importing it into Photoshop I was able to adjust the levels a bit to get the halo more apparent.

I added some more images to my Flickr page if your interested.

Acoording to Wikipedia the scientific explaination is as follows:
Moon halos are mostly caused by ice crystals in cold cirrus clouds located high (5–10 km, or 3–6 miles) in the upper troposphere. Sometimes in very cold weather optical halos are formed by crystals close to ground level, called diamond dust. The crystals behave like jewels, refracting and reflecting sunlight between their faces, sending shafts of light in particular directions.

In another more indepth Wikipedia article explaining 22 degree halos it states:
22° halos form when the sky contains millions of poorly oriented ice crystals. Some of these happen to be aligned perpendicular to the sun light as viewed by one observer which produces the illuminated 22° circle, while other crystals produces the same phenomenon for other observers. An Alexander’s band can be seen inside the halo.

It was quite a remarkable sight and the image is still seered into my brain. I can’t wait to see my next one, and I hope you get to see one too!

PS: See Guso, you didnt really think I wouldn’t take pictures of something so cool did you? ^.~

Remember when metal detectors were all the rage? The thrill of being able to find something someone buried or lost underground that might be valuble? Usually the beach, or a park would be a good place to start if you wanted a good chance of finding something. Well, not anymore.

Geocaching, an outdoor treasure hunting sport where participants use a GPSr to seek out caches (containers) all around the world. With literally hundreds of thousands (and growing) caches placed in hundreds of countries there are limitless adventures you could be drawn into to find a cache. A geocache can hold something as little as a note or trinkets, or even other valuble items for you to find. Usually the rule of thumb is, if your going to take something from the cache you need to leave something behind of equal or greater value. Most geocaches also have a logbook so that you can record your visit.

Using the Internet to find websites that list geocached coordinates, you can then use your GPS device to help you track it down. Some websites like Geocaching.com have a social aspect to it that will allow others to post hints or comments on that particular cache. This can be very helpful especially if that cache has been muggled with (a term which implies its been taken or moved by a non-geocacher unaware of what it was) so that you know ahead of time before venturing out and never finding it.

Geocached items can range from trinkets, toys, cds, books, coins, buttons, to more personal valubles that are sentimental to the previous geocacher who was there. There are also Travel Bugs or Geocoins that can be found which are items that request to be “carried over” to another cache so that it can keep moving. A log is kept and updated online by the person who found it so that the original owner can see where that tagged bug or coin has been. These Travelbugs or Geocoins can travel sometimes hundreds of thousands of miles, even to other continents and across the world.

Geocaches range in size, difficulty and location but most importantly are always intended to be found. So, if you wanted to take a little geocaching adventure what would you need?

a handheld GPSr (Global Positioning System reciever)
a Flashlight (if it gets dark)
some trinkets or goodies you would like to exchange

Its wise to do your research first before heading out in order to obtain the coordinates and have an idea of some sort to know what your looking for. Grab a free account at Geocaching.com and do a search for your address or zip code to find nearby caches.

I use my iPhone 3G to do most of the work, both obtaining the coordinates and locating it. A few apps that I’ve tested and find useful would be “Geocaching”, “GeopherLite” and “iGCT”. All of which can help you find geocaches, act as a GPSr, and decode any encypted messages you might stumble across along the way.  However if your budget is tight and can only choose one, go with the “Geocaching” app.

By Geocaching you experience going out to places and finding not only the items but actual locations that you may have never knew about. Scenic trails, quiet areas of solitude, and other peaceful places that can only be found if – the Geocache is found.

Happy Hunting!