The daily Madisonian. [volume] (Washington City [i.e. Washington, D.C.]) 1841-1845, 1845-03-22
METEOROLOGICAL PHENOMENON.

The following description Of a singular appearance
in the heavens, is taken from the Saratoga Repub
can;
" Between 70 aud 1 O'Clock Wednesday, 18th
inst a remarkable phenomenon appeared In our at.
mosphere-two entire haos or circles intenecting
each other. The larger one was horizontal,
of the altitude Of the sun, and from 80 10 100
degrees in diameter II encircled the heavens, hay
ing the sun in lis circumference al the South and
was Of white color such Is often seen about the
moon, only broader and much more distinct. The
other about third the diameter OF the larger,
and had the for its centre This circle was beau
tfuy Irsed through good portion Of its extent, the
red being innermost or next the sun. At the points
of intersection of the two circles faint parhela APP
peared, fading away into the brightest coors OF the
| rainbow. Through its upper portion, the smaller
circle showed the prismstic colors distinctly, though
not bright at the points Of intersection; the
portion below the Intersection was coored but slight
| w. and sometimes the extreme lower portion would
| fade away entirely and then reform, The atmos-
phere slightly dusked with yapOr, Ito which pro-
| badly the phenomenon was owing,D bot there were
no clouds TO obstruct the view. The slnguarty and
beauty Of the spectacle rendered 1t truly gratifying To
the beholder. 1t continued about half an hour amer
we first observed it,"
| very similar phenomenon was seen at New Ha-
ven and other places Sept 9, lS44. They called
halos. That Of 9th September last was even more
brilliant, and exhibited greater complication of cir
cles than the one seen at Saratoga. A partial eI
PLANTATION Of the phenomenon was then given by Prof
Olmsted, Of Yale College, as follows;
On recurring to works that give an account of So
lar halos of past times, it will be that the
orty 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 iDtersecng this
at point recty opposite the SUM- Thus in the 7th
and 10th volumes of the American Journal of Sci
ence, two halos figured bearing all these charac
tersIics. 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, Descartes, Newton, Huyghens,
Mariotte, Young and Brewster. The cloud which
| forms the basis of the phenomenon, is always the
same both the solar and the lunar balos consisting
of thin, gauze.ke, milky vapor, called by meteor
ogists cirro.sfratu. Ii is known to be very high,
falling within the region of perpetual coDgelaton 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 Of parti-
cles of ice and is from the peculiar reflections
ed by the bright surfaces of such crystals that these
phenomena believed TO be produced. Not much
difficulty has been experienced in accounting for the
production of the ring that encircles the son. since its
cause is somewhat similar to that which produces the
| TaDOOW W eApldin tue VI ring WHICH
has Its circumference in the suns centre has been
| found much more 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 ap-
peared how this would produce the appearances in
question. The following experiment may perhaps
throw some light on this subject.
/ Admit beam of the suns light into a dark room
| through small hole in the window shutter letting
the image of the sun fall on the floor the oppo.
site wall. Into this beam introduce a glass tube
Immediately ring will appear, whose circumference
passes through the centre of the solar image. BY
giving different ncnotions to The tube in respect to
the BEAM the diameters of the circles will be greater
or less. In a similar manner, the rays of the sun
falling upon cylindrical or prismatc crystals Of ice,
perpendicular TO the horizon (ther natural position
and of course inclined to the solar beam in 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.