The daily exchange. [volume] (Baltimore, Md.) 1858-1861, 1861-01-18
A WONDERFUL PHENOMENON

The following extract descriptive of an atmos
pheric display witnessed at Omaha City, Nebras-
ka, is taken from letter addressed to gentleman
OF Philadelphia, from his daughter who resides in
Omaha:
Last evening dec. 28th) just after tea, on going
to the front door, witnessed the most remarkable
as well as the most beautiful lunar exhibition
gazed upon. There before me was the full moon
the centre of golden cross as brilliant as herself
One column extended from the horizon nearly r.
the zenith, and the other, running horizontally
through the moon, was also of immense length. il
continued visible in all its grandeur and beauty
l n?t more than an hour. Everybody in our little
city was gazing at the strange sight, and MANY
were hlled with fear. Some thought that the Union
was to be dissolved, and others thought that "Fort
Moultrie had been taken" At 8 O'Clock it began
10 iade, out still we could it distinctly At 81
o CLOCK circle wasi ormed around the moon, max
ing an appearance like enclosed in a circle
Inc cross was of luminous bars, and at the ends
OF the arms the rainb0ws appeared, not circular.
put perpendicular. The large circle possessed ali
lhe coiors OF the rainbow, and was very brilliant,
rejecting two smaller circles, one northwest and
the other southwest Oh, how we wished for YOU
all. we have watched the papers closely to see
Whether you were favored in the East with the
same sight. hope you were.
The Daily Telegraph, little paper published at
Omaha, gives in its issue of an. Sd, the following
account of the phenomenon above described:
On the night of the 28th of December, was wit
messed most beautiful lunar bow, or rainbow, as
it is commonly called, though there was no rain at
the time 1t was caused by the reflection and re-
fraction of the rays of light upon the sleet.
encrusted snow which covered the earth The
moon. hich was full the day previous, rose about
o'clock, when the beautiful phenomenon COM
menced. At first the bow was distinct at the edge
OF the horizon, but pointed up. In half an hour it
became very plain throughout, as much so as any
solar bow we ever saw. 1t continued so for more
than an hour. All the rrismatic tints were very
vivid, though the red, violet and green were the
brightest. 1t gave pale orange tint to the whole
eastern part OF the armament. The radius of the
bow seemed about 800. There was a bright streak
of white light, as broad as the moon, extending
from the horizon up through the moon perpendicu.
larly, apparently 20 deg. in length. Another streak
OF like color and dimensions ran horizontally across
through the moon-thus forming beautiful and
perfect cross, which has given rise to various con-
lectures connected with the millennium, and the
Popes removal to America.
At 80 O'Clock a circle was formed, retaining the
prismatic colors, and rejecting two secondary cir
cles-one northwest, the other southwest From
IO to IL o'clock its grandeur eliminated There
were SIX circles-one around the edge of the hor-
izon-one around the moon, with radius of about
10 deg.-the remaining four circles, each the size
of the latter, filled the vacancy between the two,
occupying the Ne, NV. and S.W parts of the
compass.