The Madisonian. [volume] (Washington City [i.e. Washington, D.C.]) 1837-1845, 1845-03-25
METEOROLOGICAL PHENOMENON.

METEOROLOGICAL PHENOMENON
The following description OF singular appearance
in the heavens, is taken from the Saratoga Republ
| can:
! between - and l O'Clock on Wednesday I2ti
! inst, remarkable phenomenon appeared in our at
| mosphere-two entire halos circles intersectinl
| each other. The larger was horizontal
of the altitude of the sun, and from 80 to l0t
degrees in diameter. II encircled the heavens, hav
ing the in its circumference at the South, and
was Of white color, such Often about the
! moon, only broader and much more distinct. The
other was about third the diameter of the larger
/ and had the for its centre. This circle was beau
tfully rised through good portion OF It's extent the
| red being nnermost next the sun. AT the points
of intersection of the two circles, faint parhela APP
peared, fading away into the brightest colors OF the
| rainbow. Through It's upper portion, the smaller
circle showed the prismatc coors distinctly, though
not bright at the points OF intersection; the
portion below the intersection colored but slight
| w. and sometimes the extreme lower portion would
fade away entirely and then reform The atmos.
phere was slightly dusked with vapor, Ito which pro-
| badly the phenomenon was owing,) bot there were
no clouds to obstruct the view. The singuarty and
beauty Of the spectacle rendered it truly gratifying to
the behoIder. 1t continued about half an hour after
we first observed IT,"
| very similar phenomenon was seen at New Ha-
ven and other places Sept. g. lS44 They are called
haos That of 9th September last was even more
Giles than the one seen at Saratoga. A partial eI-
PLANTATION of the phenomenon was then given by Prof
OImsted, Of Yale College, as follows
On recurring to works that give an account Of so.
lar halos of past times it will be seen that the ma
ority Of them correspond in their general features
to this, having circle and eclipse round the sum-
larger circle with its circumference passing through
its suns centre, and two other circles interesting this
at point rectly opposite the sun. Thus in the 9TH
and 10th volumes of the American Journal of Sci
ence, two halos figured, bearing all these cbarac-
terstics. The circles, however, are sometimes still
farther multiplied and Of dimensions varying from
the present
Such uniformity Of structure must depend on
some law, which regulates the formation of balos ;
but the nature Of this law is not fully developed al
though its investigation has occupied the most emf
nent opticians, as Describes Newton Huygbens
Mariotte, Young and Brewster The cloud which
forms the basis Of the phenomenon, is always the
same both in the solar and the lunar haos consisting
of thin, gaUzeke, milky vapor, called BY meteor.
logsts GIRO stratus. Ii is known 10 be very high
falling within the region of perpetual congeston the
lower limits of which, in our latitude, about two
miles above the earth The moisture deposited BY
these Clouds would be in the form % snow or part.
ces of ice and it is from the peculiar reflections caus
ed by the bright surfaces of such crystals that these
phenomena are believed to be produced. Not much
difficulty has been experienced in accounting for the
production of the ring that encircles The sum- since its
cause 1s somewhat lDat winch produces the
rainbow but to explain the origin of the ring which
has ITS circumference in the suns centre has been
found much difficult The reflection of the
suns light from crystals of cylindrical and prisma-
tic form, has been supposed to furnish clue TO the
explanation, although 1t has not always clearly APP
peored how this would produce the appearances in
question. The following experiment may perhaps
throw some light on this subject
Admit beam of the SUMS light into a dark room
through a small hole in the window shutter letting
the image Of the fall on the floor or on the oppo
site wall Into this beam introduce glass tube
Immediately ring will appear, whose circumference
passes through the centre of the solar image BY
giving different inclinations to the tube in respect TO
the beam, the dameers of the circles will be greater
or less. In similar manner, the rays of the sun
falling upon cylindrical prismstio crystals of ice
perpendicular TO the horizon (their natural position
and of course inclined to the solar beam in a given
angle may produce the circle that passes through the
suns centre. We will not at this time, attempt an
explanation of the peculiar reflections that form the
subordinate rings. o.