Kamal Ghorui
The city’s usual winter chill made eyes glued with folks whispering about the eerie glow, haunting yet almost surreal alignment of bright spots surrounding the real Moon. St. Petersburg, a city in Russia, viewed something unusual in the sky, which was reportedly addressed with ‘it wasn’t a glitch’ over social media platforms. A sky with ‘four Moons’ which viewers seemed lucky enough to look up and capture the moment with their phones. Sounds unreal, but it was a rare atmospheric phenomenon called a paraselene or ‘Mock Moon’.
Understanding paraselene: Russia observes rare ‘four moons’ spectacle
A paraselene, experts say, is caused by moonlight refracting through tiny ice crystals in the high cirrus clouds. The crystals are thin, plate-shaped, hexagonal, and floating far above the Earth. When the moonlight hits just right, it bends, creating bright spots on either side of the Moon. These are the “mock moons” or paraselenae.It seems like a simple trick of light, but it’s not. The angles have to be precise. NASA notes that these extra moons appear about 22 degrees or more away from the actual Moon. Usually, they are faint, especially compared to the bright lunar disk. So catching them requires good timing, clear skies, and a bit of luck.
The science behind the eerie four-moon display
This particular display reportedly appeared because the ice crystals were wobbling slightly, giving the vertical extent of the paraselenae. Bigger crystals make taller mock moons. People watching the sky could see two on each side, creating the eerie impression of ‘four moons’ floating above the horizon.Photos showed ghostly images with the Moon at the centre and the two bright spots on either side, mirroring each other. “It looks like something out of a dream,” one observer reportedly wrote. Others commented that the sight was both beautiful and slightly unsettling. It’s the kind of rare occurrence that makes people stop in their tracks, even for a few moments.
