December 9, 2017 photos – 2 a.m. to dawn – by Eliot Herman.
Eliot Herman is Tucson, Arizona has been working all year to compile a series of images of every major meteor shower in 2017. So last weekend, as this week’s Geminid meteor shower was rising to its peak, he had his automatic camera set-up running all night. You can see one result in the images above. He didn’t catch a Geminid (although he did catch a random meteor, which exploded as it fell). But he caught something equally wonderful, a long-lasting halo around the moon.
Eliot said the halo lasted from 2 a.m. to dawn. You can see twilight coming up in the bottom right image. Then, he said, the halo just:
Deborah Byrd (asteroid 3505 Byrd) helps edit EarthSky.org and is a frequent host of EarthSky videos. Deborah created the EarthSky radio series in 1991 and founded EarthSky.org in 1994. Prior to that, she had worked for the University of Texas McDonald Observatory since 1976, and created and produced their Star Date radio series. She has won a galaxy of awards from the broadcasting and science communities, including having an asteroid named in her honor in 1990, a Public Service Award from the National Science Board in 2003, and the Education Prize from the American Astronomical Society in 2020. A science communicator and educator since 1976, Byrd believes in science as a force for good in the world and a vital tool for the 21st century. "Being an EarthSky editor is like hosting a big global party for cool nature-lovers," she says.
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