The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1861-01-21
A wondcrfuI Phenomenon.

The following extract, descriptive Of an at
mospheric display witnessed at Omaha City,
Nebraska, is taken from a letter addressed to
a gentleman of Philadelphia, from his daush-
ter, who resides In Omaha;
Last evening dec. 2sth J just after tea, on
going TO the front door, witnessed the most
remarkable as well as the mos t beautiful lunar
exhibition ever gazed upon. mere before
me was the full moon, the centre oil a golden
cross as brilliant as herself. One column ex-
tended from the horizon nearly to the zenith,
and the other, running horizontally through
the moon was also of immense length. 1t
continued visible in all its grandeur and beau
~ for more than an hour. Everybody in our
little city was gazing at the strange sight, and
MANY were filled with fear. Some thought
that the Union was to be dissolved. and others
thought that s.Fort Moultrie had been taken"
Al o'clock il began TO fade, bnt still we could
soc il distinctly 91-2 O'Clock u circle was
formed around the moon, making an appear
ance like q cross inclosed IN circle.
The cross was of luminous bars, ana AT the
ends of the arms the rainbows appeared, not
circular but perpendicular The large circle
possessed all the colors OF the RAINBOW, ana
was very brilliant rejecting two smaller cir
Giles one northwest and the other southwest.
OH how we wished for you all. we nave
watched the papers closely to see whether you
Were favored IN the Last Win VIC aliie siSh''
/ hope you were.
The Daily Telegraph, little paper pub
Hshed at Omaha gives, in its issue of Jan. Sd,
the following account of the phenomenon
above described
On the night of the 2sth of December, was
witnessed a most beautiful lunar bow, or ram
how as il is commonly called, though there
was no rain at the time. 1t was caused by the
reflection and refraction of the rays OF lSnt
upou the slpet -encrus ted snow which covered
the earth, The moon, which was full the Gay
previous rose about o'clock, when the beau
! tiful phenomenon commenced AT first the
! IL
/ but pointed up. In half an hour 1T became
! very plain throughout, as much so us any
! solar bow we ever saw. 1t continued so lot
! more than an hour. All the prismatlc tints
were very vivid, though the red, violet ana
/ green were the bright test. 1t gave pare
/ orange tint 10 the whole eastern part OF the
armament The radius OF the bow seemed
/ about 80 deg. There was bright streak OF
/ white light as broad as the moon, extending
from the horizon up through the moon per-
pendicularly, apparently 20 deg. in length.
! Another streak of like color and dimensions
ran horizontally across through the moon
thus forming a beautiful and perfect cross,
/ which has given rise to various conJectures
connected with the millennium, and the Pope S
removal to America
At9l-2 o'clock a circle was formed, retain
ing the prismatic colors, and reflectin two
secondary circles-one northwest, the other
/ southwest From 10 to II O'Clock its granueu r
eliminated. There were six circies-one
! around the edge of the horiZon-one around
the moon with a radius of about-AD.deg-
remaining four circles, each the size OF the lat
! ter filled the vacancy between the TWO, occu-
pyne the n. T., n. w. and 5. w. parts OF the
compass.