Easy Ways to Enjoy Nature and the World

Just two nights ago, as I was walking to my car after leaving my school's library I witnessed an amazing sight. It was about 7:00 PM and I looked up in the night sky. After taking an introductory astronomy class it has become my habit to look up at night and see if the moon is there or not. Sometimes it's nice to discover the orange moon just over the horizon, as I did once while talking to a friend who owns a pizza shop. The moon was just above a drug store across the street, and was full and beautiful with an orange-reddish tint.

So I walked in the cold, windy weather to my car two nights ago, and looked straight up in the sky. The moon was full and I saw high and fast moving clouds that were hazy. But as I kept my gaze upon the moon, I was astonished to see something I've never seen before. I saw a faint colored halo(almost like a circular rainbow) around the moon. Yes, it was a large colored halo, with fuzzy bands of color from the outside to the inside. This colorful halo was actually being generated by the light being refracted through the clouds that were passing slowly below the moon. But I didn't really believe it at first, and thought maybe my eyes were fooling me. So I walked to a darker spot, near my school's power plant.

I looked up again and stared at this rare site. Then to verify this I ran the colors of the spectrum through my mind, thinking of the acronym "ROY G. BIV" and seeing those colors in the bands, from the outside in. As I walked to my car, I thought about how this view I had was unique to my location, and how someone in Boston would not probably see this. I know for sure that people in Los Angeles would never see this site, if only because of the weather and smog there. Oh yeah, and those people are too busy on their cell phones or driving anyways. The same goes for people used to the asphalt jungle of the inner cities.

If you have never seen this rare site, sometimes called a moonbow, then at least try to see a moon halo sometime. Or a shooting star - there are meteor showers twice a year. I saw a large halo around the moon once that looked so amazing that it was as if there was a large translucent bubble filling up most of the sky. This happened on a winter night, and I later found out it's because of small ice crystals very high in the atmosphere.

The colored halo was something very rare, and it is the type of event that depends on a number of factors working out - full moon, certain weather, time, etc.

About a week ago there was another very nice display in the sky. There was a hat in the sky. Yes, a hat made up of the crescent moon, Venus, and Jupiter. Venus is the brightest planet in our solar system, and it looked bigger at this time of year than Jupiter. And about a year ago Mars was close to the moon in the sky.

The two main Meteor showers are the Perseid and Leonid ones that peak around August 12th and November 17, respectively. It's best to go out in the middle of nowhere, and on a day with no or little cloud cover(any street lights reduce your visibility of the night sky). Maybe go to the desert and bring dessert. There are natural and exciting free shows for us out there!

I mention astronomy here but there are many great biology, physics, chemistry, geology, and even mathematical examples in nature. One great time to see all the creatures in your area come alive is either late at night or early morning. Visiting the zoo early in the morning is usually one of the best times because you avoid the crowds and also animals are more active then. Kids can learn a lot with these firsthand observation and your explanations. And remember to keep your chin up and take a look at the stars!