Moon Ring above Upper Peninsula skies

A Moon Ring can be seen tonight above Upper Peninsula skies.

A 22° halo is an optical phenomenon that occasionally forms around the moon. It’s also known as a moon ring or winter halo. It forms when light is refracted in millions of randomly oriented hexagonal ice crystals suspended in the atmosphere.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moon_ring

As no light is refracted at angles smaller than 22° the sky is darker inside the halo. A 22° halo may be visible on as many as 100 days per year.

In folklore, moon rings are said to warn of approaching storms. Like other ice halos, 22° halos appear when the sky is covered by thin cirrus clouds that often come a few days before a large storm front.

The similar phenomenon called coronas are produced by water droplets and they are much smaller and more colorful than 22° halos.

Content from Wikipedia