The moon put on a rare light show for residents in the city of Asku in northwest China on Sunday night. The nearly-full moon radiated a colossal halo around itself.
Scientist say that such an event happens only under very specific conditions. These "lunar rings" appear when rays of sunlight shooting into space hit the almost-full moon, which acts like a nearly perfect reflecting disc and bounces the light down to earth.
The light then passes through cirrostratus clouds floating high in the atmosphere, where hexagonal-shaped ice crystals in the clouds bend the light and form a luminous circle that is between 10 and 20 times the size of the moon.
The ring in Asku was in full effect at 1:00am (local time).
Lunar halos can predicate wind, while solar rings are often the forerunners of rain or snow, according to meteorologists.
APTN