Sometimes I see a ring around the moon. If I were on the moon, would I ever see a ring around the Earth?

On Mon, 9 Oct 2000, Mary wrote:

> One sees on occasion a ring around the moon from ice crystals in the
> atmosphere, but if one were an astronaut on the moon looking at the Earth
> would one see a ring? Since there is no atmosphere it seems logical there
> would be no ring. Is this correct?

You are correct. The ring around the moon or sun is caused by ice
crystals high in Earth's atmosphere, so there would be no similar ring
around the sun or the Earth as viewed from the moon.

[On a technical point, you would be viewing the sun or Earth through a
transparent glass or plastic, and these can sometimes also create
rings. But if you were to take your helmet off and somehow survive, you
wouldn't see a ring.]

Thanks for writing!

Sincerely,
Kurtis Williams

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