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Why do we sometimes see a circle around the moon?
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The moon reflects sunlight and even reflected sunlight can interact with droplets of water in the atmosphere such as thin clouds like a layer of fog. You see the light as a ring because that is the angle of reflection (or refraction) of light from the moon through the moisture's spherical drops to your eyes. The moon can even produce moonbows, similar to rainbows (but no pot of gold?).
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Particles in the atmosphere absorb the light rays in the area where the ring is so none are reflected back to your eyes. It's not something you ARE seeing, it's something you are NOT seeing.
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