Shakedown Social

Mary McIntyre AstronomyAs the almost <a href="https://astrodon.social/tags/FullMoon" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#FullMoon</a> rose on 11th June 2025, it created the tallest <a href="https://astrodon.social/tags/MoonPillar" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#MoonPillar</a> I've ever seen, extending about 30 degrees up! Photographed from North Oxfordshire with a Canon 1100D + Sigma 300mm lens <a href="https://astrodon.social/tags/AtmosphericOptics" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#AtmosphericOptics</a>

Mark McCaughreanCurrently doing battle with a truculent million year old baby protostar below the belt of Orion, moving behind clouds some eighty million au away 😬As a brief distraction, here’s a several billion year old grown-up star just one au away, playing with the water and ice in the atmosphere of one of its planets 🌞<a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/SpaceScience" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#SpaceScience</a> ✨ <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/AtmosphericOptics" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#AtmosphericOptics</a> 🌈 <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/CloudAppreciationSociety" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#CloudAppreciationSociety</a> 🌥️

Mark McCaughreanA 54km ride this evening, half of which was along a new route 🙂Which my ELEMNT recorded & which shows in my weekly ride total, but the ride itself has disappeared from the gizmo & did not sync to my phone or to Strava. Will have to add it manually 🙄Only little spits of rain during the ride, but as this 22° halo & outer elliptical circumscribed halo from earlier in the day show, the weather is a changin’ 🌧️<a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/CyclingLife" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#CyclingLife</a> 🚴‍♂️ <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/Photography" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#Photography</a> 📷 <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/AtmosphericOptics" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#AtmosphericOptics</a> 🌈

Benjamin KnispelOne additional image of the rising Moon with a pine pollen corona. It was quite easy to see with the unaided eye.This was taken on May 12 at 22:26 CEST north of Hanover, Germany.3.2 seconds exposed at f/6.3, ISO 640 and f=200 mm.<a href="https://chaos.social/tags/AtmosphericOptics" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#AtmosphericOptics</a> <a href="https://chaos.social/tags/Photography" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#Photography</a> <a href="https://chaos.social/tags/Light" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#Light</a> <a href="https://chaos.social/tags/Diffraction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#Diffraction</a> <a href="https://chaos.social/tags/Physics" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#Physics</a> <a href="https://chaos.social/tags/Pollen" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#Pollen</a> <a href="https://chaos.social/tags/Moon" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#Moon</a>

Peter GutscheDid you know that you can observe fascinating <a href="https://sueden.social/tags/mirages" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#mirages</a> in the Black Forest? In my latest blog post, I explore this phenomenon of <a href="https://sueden.social/tags/AtmosphericOptics" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#AtmosphericOptics</a> and share my personal observations from the coast of the English Channel and the mountains of the Black Forest.<a href="https://www.silberspur.de/blogs/read/108" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no" target="_blank">https://www.silberspur.de/blogs/read/108</a><a href="https://sueden.social/tags/NaturePhenomena" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#NaturePhenomena</a> <a href="https://sueden.social/tags/EnglishChannel" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#EnglishChannel</a> <a href="https://sueden.social/tags/BlackForest" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#BlackForest</a> <a href="https://sueden.social/tags/ScienceBlog" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#ScienceBlog</a> <a href="https://sueden.social/tags/NaturePhotography" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#NaturePhotography</a> <a href="https://sueden.social/tags/Photography" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#Photography</a> <a href="https://sueden.social/tags/FataMorgana" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#FataMorgana</a> <a href="https://sueden.social/tags/Physics" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#Physics</a> <a href="https://sueden.social/tags/meteorology" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#meteorology</a> <a href="https://sueden.social/tags/Schwarzwald" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#Schwarzwald</a> <a href="https://sueden.social/tags/Fotografie" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#Fotografie</a> <a href="https://sueden.social/tags/NaturFotografie" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#NaturFotografie</a> <a href="https://sueden.social/tags/Luftspiegelungen" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#Luftspiegelungen</a>

Benjamin KnispelTree sex makes colored rings in the sky – Yesterday, I observed pollen coronas around the sun and the moon.These colorful rings appear around the sun / the moon when airborne pollen diffracts the light (=deflects it depending on its color).Different pollen types make different coronas. Here, it is likely pine pollen.pic 1 at 14:08 CEST, f=200 mm, sun covered by street lamp.pic 2 at 22:27 CEST, f=200 mm, moon overexposed<a href="https://chaos.social/tags/AtmosphericOptics" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#AtmosphericOptics</a> <a href="https://chaos.social/tags/Photography" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#Photography</a> <a href="https://chaos.social/tags/Light" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#Light</a> <a href="https://chaos.social/tags/Diffraction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#Diffraction</a> <a href="https://chaos.social/tags/Physics" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#Physics</a>

Benjamin KnispelVery nice pollen based atmospheric optics.Last night I observed a pollen corona around the bright moon. These colored rings around the moon are created when its light is refracted by airborne pollen.Depending on the type of pollen, different ring shapes and sizes appear. This one is probably from pine pollen.Image: 22:53 CEST | f=300 mm | aperture 5.6 | ISO 1250 | 0.5 s<a href="https://chaos.social/tags/AtmosphericOptics" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#AtmosphericOptics</a> <a href="https://chaos.social/tags/Photography" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#Photography</a> <a href="https://chaos.social/tags/Nature" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#Nature</a> <a href="https://chaos.social/tags/Light" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#Light</a> <a href="https://chaos.social/tags/Diffraction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#Diffraction</a> <a href="https://chaos.social/tags/Moon" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#Moon</a>

Mark McCaughreanNot something you see every day 😱Anti-crepuscular rays above & below the eastern horizon, converging on the anti-solar point at the end of the shadow being cast by an airplane’s contrail. Cast by clouds on the other horizon near sunset, these rays are actually parallel, but perspective makes them converge like railway lines.Normally they’re only see above the horizon for obvious reasons 😉As seen from LH754 en-route to Bengaluru last night ✈️<a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/Photography" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#Photography</a> 📷 <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/AtmosphericOptics" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#AtmosphericOptics</a> 🌄

Mark McCaughreanAnd forty minutes later, the fog had cleared leaving some light cloud, making for some lovely iridescence as the sun set behind the Königstuhl, as seen from a walk in the woods above Ziegelhausen.<a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/Germany" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#Germany</a> 🇩🇪 <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/Heidelberg" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#Heidelberg</a> 🏰 <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/Photography" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#Photography</a> 📷 <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/AtmosphericOptics" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#AtmosphericOptics</a> 🌈

Mark McCaughreanAfter days of cold, wet, & snowy absence, the Sun had the cheek to reappear today wearing a halo, as if it had done nothing wrong 🌞🤷‍♂️<a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/Heidelberg" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#Heidelberg</a> 🏰 <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/Photography" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#Photography</a> 📷 <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/AtmosphericOptics" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#AtmosphericOptics</a> 🌈

Dr. John Barentine FRASI've added some information toward the end of the page on my website about my work with night-sky brightness measurement and monitoring specifically regarding how dust and smoke suspended in the lower atmosphere affects the readings we get.<a href="https://www.johncbarentine.com/night-sky-photometers.html" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no" target="_blank">https://www.johncbarentine.com/night-sky-photometers.html</a><a href="https://astrodon.social/tags/LightPollution" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#LightPollution</a> <a href="https://astrodon.social/tags/DarkSkies" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#DarkSkies</a> <a href="https://astrodon.social/tags/Aerosols" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#Aerosols</a> <a href="https://astrodon.social/tags/AtmosphericOptics" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#AtmosphericOptics</a> <a href="https://astrodon.social/tags/SkyBrightness" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#SkyBrightness</a>

Mark McCaughreanDayglo halo 🌞A lovely long-lasting 22° halo around the Sun due to ice in citrus high in the sky over Wassenaar today, nicely set off by some passing low clouds 🙂👍<a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/Netherlands" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#Netherlands</a> 🇳🇱 <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/Photography" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#Photography</a> 📷 <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/AtmosphericOptics" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#AtmosphericOptics</a> 🌈 <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/CloudAppreciationSociety" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#CloudAppreciationSociety</a> ⛅️

Mark McCaughreanHere's that "mystery" ice halo from earlier today, soon after the circumzenithal arc disappeared – a short, colourful arc WNW of the Sun & concave to it. I've measured it carefully using a later image of a sundog to calibrate the camera FOV) & it is 50º from the Sun.That very likely means it's a fragment of a supralateral arc, formed in hexagonal ice columns.<a href="https://old.atoptics.co.uk/halo/supinf.htm" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no" target="_blank">https://old.atoptics.co.uk/halo/supinf.htm</a><a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/IceHaloes" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#IceHaloes</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/Wassenaar" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#Wassenaar</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/Netherlands" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#Netherlands</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/Photography" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#Photography</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/AtmosphericOptics" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#AtmosphericOptics</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/CloudAppreciationSociety" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#CloudAppreciationSociety</a>

Mark McCaughreanAlways unexpected 😱 always breathtaking 🥰A beautiful circumzenithal arc graced the cirrusy skies over our back garden this afternoon, perhaps one of the best I’ve ever seen.Often called an “upside rainbow”, you need to look high in the sky to see it – many people miss them on the rare occasions they appear.<a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/IceHaloes" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#IceHaloes</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/Netherlands" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#Netherlands</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/Photography" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#Photography</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/AtmosphericOptics" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#AtmosphericOptics</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/CloudAppreciationSociety" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#CloudAppreciationSociety</a>

Andrew SteeleStaggeringly bright sunset double <a href="https://mas.to/tags/rainbow" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#rainbow</a> in <a href="https://mas.to/tags/Berlin" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#Berlin</a>!<a href="https://mas.to/tags/photography" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#photography</a> <a href="https://mas.to/tags/weather" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#weather</a> <a href="https://mas.to/tags/atmosphericoptics" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#atmosphericoptics</a>

Mary McIntyre Astronomy30th Aug '23 was an amazing night for lunar <a href="https://astrodon.social/tags/AtmosphericOptics" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#AtmosphericOptics</a> around the <a href="https://astrodon.social/tags/PerigeeFullMoon" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#PerigeeFullMoon</a>! Lunar <a href="https://astrodon.social/tags/22DegreeHalo" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#22DegreeHalo</a> <a href="https://astrodon.social/tags/CircumzenithalArc" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#CircumzenithalArc</a> + the best <a href="https://astrodon.social/tags/paraselenae" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#paraselenae</a> (<a href="https://astrodon.social/tags/moondogs" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#moondogs</a>) I've seen, both showing <a href="https://astrodon.social/tags/ParaselenicCircle" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#ParaselenicCircle</a> fragments! Canon 1100D + 10-18mm lens. Click image to view full size <a href="https://astrodon.social/tags/BlueMoon" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#BlueMoon</a> <a href="https://astrodon.social/tags/SuperBlueMoon" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#SuperBlueMoon</a> <a href="https://astrodon.social/tags/LunarAtmosphericOptics" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#LunarAtmosphericOptics</a>

Mr. VelocipedeHow about a new <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/introduction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#introduction</a> for 2022?I make pictures using <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/fractals" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#fractals</a> and other kinds of <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/geometry" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#geometry</a>. I don't exactly think of it as <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/art" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#art</a> but I'm not sure what else to call it. Some of it is <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/illustration" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#illustration</a>.I like <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/typography" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#typography</a> and <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/letterpress" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#letterpress</a>.I like the <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/sky" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#sky</a>, especially <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/AtmosphericOptics" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#AtmosphericOptics</a> and <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/clouds" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#clouds</a>.I do a fair amount of <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/knitting" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#knitting</a>.I'm excited about more <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/GoodOmens" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#GoodOmens</a> in 2023.Using all these tags feels really weird to me. I suppose I'll get used to it.

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