Diamond Dust Sky Eye
Why is there a huge eye in the sky? Diamond dust . That is an informal term for small ice crystals that form in the air and flitter to the ground. Because these crystals are geometrically shaped , they can together reflect light from the Sun or Moon to your eyes in a systematic way, causing huge halos and unusual arcs to appear. And sometimes, together the result can seem like a giant eye looking right back at you. In the featured image taken in the Ore Mountains of the Czech Republic last week, a bright Moon rising through ice fog -filled air resulted in many of these magnificent sky illusions to be visible simultaneously. Besides Moon dogs , tangent arcs , halos , and a parselenic circle , light pillars above distant lights are visible on the far left, while Jupiter and Mars can be found just inside the bottom of the 22-degree halo . Your Sky Surprise: What picture did APOD feature on your birthday? (post 1995)