Your Pictures: Lunar Halo

A beautiful sight graced the night sky this November, a lunar halo no less. But how does it form?

To get this optical phenomena we need two things. Firstly, a full or nearly-full moon; secondly, a thin veil of high 'cirrus' cloud.

This cirrus cloud is made up of millions of tiny hexagonal ice crystals and as these tilt and turn high up in the atmosphere, they reflect and refract the moonlight. In most cases this gives the appearance of a white ring around the moon, although in some cases it can have faint colours to it, much like a rainbow.

Lots of you were out and about to see it so here are just a few more of your wonderful pictures - and extra points in you can spot Jupiter inside the halo too... (Clue: Look to the right of the moon!)